


O-week is Wild

by KnottyRoses



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bokuto is a sweetheart, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Falling In Love, Fluff, Getting Together, Glitter, I just want these idiots to be happy, Kissing, M/M, O-week, Orientation Week, Pro Volleyball Player Bokuto Koutarou, Soft Boys, Swearing, University Student Akaashi Keiji, Volleyball Dorks in Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:40:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28941600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnottyRoses/pseuds/KnottyRoses
Summary: Akaashi is a 4th year student in University and somehow got roped into being one of the main coordinators for Orientation week. His job is to be prepared for anything, however he really didn't prepare for a loud, energetic leader named Bokuto coming along to steal his heart.~~Based on one Canadian's experience as an o-week leader so I apologize if this is nothing like how other Universities o-weeks work. But look, really this is about putting these idiots in silly fun situations and having them fall in love so *shrug* Who cares!Completed! Additional warnings in notes!
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 89
Kudos: 172
Collections: Haikyuu Fics That Light my soul on Fire, My favorite haikyuu fics





	1. A First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, yes, Helloo!  
> Welcome to my self indulgent fluff-fest. Hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it.
> 
> This first chapter is short I'm sorry. They get a bit longer as we go! 
> 
> Also shout out to my Beta reader Rania, who read this despite having no idea what Haikyuu even is. Love yah <3

Akaashi has no idea how he ended up here, standing in the Student Life Centre, black vest hanging off his slim shoulders, walkie-talkie buzzing at his side. He did however know how the black and gold face paint sloppily applied across his high cheekbones had gotten there, his friend Suga said it made his dark blue-green eyes pop, and insisted he could not start the first day without it. 

After pulling his ass out of bed that morning, here he was at the student center of his university, organizing everything he could possibly need for the day at the help desk. Akasshi was already so sleep deprived from the last few days of frantic planning that he wasn’t really sure what the exact time was, just that students would be arriving in the next few minutes. 

One of the University advisors, Takeda, came over and patted him on the back handing him a coffee, “You ready, Akaashi?” 

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he sighed, taking the coffee, face grim. Over a year’s worth of prep and planning, and yet as orientation finally was about to begin he felt absolutely under prepared. 

Orientation week, or O-week as the students called it, was a week-long event with activities put on by the university in hopes of helping incoming students make friends, learn the lay of the campus, and just generally get settled in. The event consisted of programming put on by faculties during the day, so that students could meet their academic cohorts before classes began, and evening and weekend events put on by the Federation of Students, so they could mingle between faculties and interact with upper years. Akaashi was part of the Federation of Students (Feds) team.

He sipped his coffee, ran a hand through messy dark hair and took up his spot at the seat behind the help desk. As one of the main coordinators of the event it was his job to sit at the help desk and put out whatever fires came up over the next week; his job was literally to be prepared for the unexpected. But how the fuck do you prepare for the unknown? Akaashi wondered for the hundredth time. 

He sighed and slumped his head into his hands, “I’m never letting anyone talk me into anything like this again,” he mumbled to his coffee.

The check-in room slowly started to come alive as the students meandered in to get their O-week schedules and goodie bags. The first few hours passed without much incident; an occasional missing name, a lost student needing directions, nothing major. So Akaashi spent most of his morning watching the insanity unfold in front of him. The O-week leaders went from barely awake to full of school spirit as the day went on, cheering and trying to out sing the other departments as new students stumbled around looking anywhere between overjoyed and terrified. 

As much as Akaashi wished he was asleep right now, the truth was those students were why he was here. He himself had walked into this very room only four years ago, absolutely and utterly terrified. 

At the time he had hated everything about O-week; the over enthusiastic leaders, the stupid games and ice breakers. None of it was what Akaashi would call fun; honestly you probably couldn’t pay him to do it again as a first year. But still, it had kept him from sitting in his dorm alone having a panic attack, and it had introduced him to people who he would end up becoming best friends with over the next three years. So when Takeda had approached him about the position he sucked it up and decided it was time to give back to this insane event.

The end of the day was approaching. Things had gone shockingly smoothly. Akaashi guessed all the prep over the last year was actually paying off. The leaders were starting to pack up, and close down for the day.

Akaashi stood up and stretched, other than a jog to get some keys and getting up for lunch, he had been in the same chair for the whole day answering questions. As he bent to touch his toes a FOC marked by their yellow vest came bounding into the student centre. 

FOC’s were the upper year students in charge of each department's programming, and it is fairly common to see them running around looking frantic during O-week. This FOC careened into Takeda at the front of the room. He looked ridiculous, but that’s another common sight during O-week. The FOC’s hair was white with black roots spiked up into these dumb points. Akaashi genuinely had no idea if this hair was O-week specific, but good god was the guy buff. He looked like he could probably deadlift Akaashi if he so decided, and that was saying something since Akaashi was not a particularly small person himself. He caught himself wondering what those biceps would be like wrapped around him. 

He was shaken from his daydream about the FOC’s biceps as he caught Takeda saying, “Oh, you’ll want Akaashi for that! He’s at the help desk,” and pointing towards Akaashi who was just standing staring. The white haired man waved at him, big and enthusiastic like they were best friends. Akaashi scowled. This man was going to be a lot, he could feel it, and god he was tired. He sighed straightening as the man ran over. 

“Hi! Agassi???” the white haired idiot said. 

“Akaashi,'' Akaashi corrected, voice deadpan. 

“Oh! Akaashi! Hi!” The guy was right in front of him beaming like an idiot. 

Akaashi raised an eyebrow. “Hello? How can I help you?” he asked since that was his job. The man stared at him a moment longer; that’s when Akaashi noticed it. Those eyes. Those golden eyes staring at him so intensely, so full of wonder. He caught his breath at the sheer force of their beauty taking him in. 

“Uh well we locked ourselves out,” the man finally said, the smile slipping off his face. 

“Who is ‘we’, and where did ‘we’ lock ourselves out of?'' Akaashi asked, tearing his eyes away to look down at his list of buildings and corresponding keys. 

“Oh right,” the man chuckled, running his hand through his hair, his bicep straining against his shirt. “I’m one of the Rec and Leisure FOC. We’re in the athletic building- or we were in the athletic building. But then we started to see who could do the most wind sprints and Kuroo bet me $10 that he could do more than me and, well, who turns down a bet, so we went outside and-” 

“Left the keys inside,” Akaashi finished for him, doing his best not to smile. There was something oddly charming about this overly enthusiastic man. The guy nodded looking a little stunned at being cut off. 

“Sorry,” the guy mumbled blushing a bit. 

“No worries. Just give me a sec and I’ll get you the keys you need,” Akaashi said covering a small smile.

It didn’t take him too long to find the keys he needed, and soon the two of them were walking out of the Student Life Center together towards the athletics building.   
Akaashi could feel white hair guy’s eyes on him as they walked, and he did everything he could to just look forward, ignoring those big golden eyes. 

Akaashi is not a chatter; he doesn’t do small talk, and if he makes eye contact that is what he will be made to do. Doesn't matter how pretty this guy is, Akaashi did not have the energy to make it through small talk after such a long day. Pretty guy had other plans though.

“So!” the white haired guy finally said, voice a bit high as if nervous. 

“Hm?” Akaashi responded, still keeping his gaze forward. 

“I’m Bokuto! I'm sorry for making you walk all the way out here, but you could have just given me the keys and I could have run them back to you once we got into the building. But I guess you were worried we would be stupid again and lose this set of keys too.” 

The guy sounded so genuinely dejected as he said that last part that Akaashi couldn’t help himself, he looked over at him. Bokuto was hunched over looking at the ground, a pout on his lips. 

“It’s okay,” Akaashi found himself saying, “these things happen. It’s Fed's policy to have the master keys stay with a Fed’s employee, so no matter what I would have had to come.”  
Bokuto looked up at him and Akaashi’s heart did a full somersault when this puppy dog of a human’s pout was turned on him. Akaashi had the deepest urge to make that pout go away, to see Bokuto smile more, and so he started talking more. 

“You know, it’s apparently a rule because a few years ago a leader flushed the backup keys down a toilet.” Bokuto tilted his head clearly interested. “Apparently it was on purpose too.”   
That really got Bokuto's attention, he straightened up. “Whatdoyoumean?!” he blurted out. 

“Well, the story goes that two leaders were dating, and one caught the other hooking up with some other person and was livid. Apparently the dude chased them out of the building, but they were mid-banging so they ended up running into the street naked”- Bokutos eyes were wide a silly grin on his face now. Akaashi was holding back a smile as he continued, “Of course they got locked out. Livid guy decided to get even more revenge and came to get the spare key, promptly flushing it down the toilet so that his former partner and cheater were stuck, locked outside naked. Pretty fucking wild, huh?” Bokuto started laughing so hard he had to stop walking. 

“That’s”-he giggled-“that can’t be true!” Akaashi was trying desperately to keep his composure, but Bokuto’s laugh was infectious.

“I swear, that’s what they told us during prep,” he shrugged. Eventually Bokuto got his laughter under control enough to continue the walk towards the athletic center, a big silly grin pasted once again on his face. Akaashi’s heart did a funny little flip-flop knowing he was the one who had brought it back.

They talked now, or more Bokuto talked, loudly, enthusiastically, using his whole body to tell his stories. And Akaashi got wrapped up by this man whose arms were flying and voice was somehow getting louder. He finds himself nodding and humming at appropriate spots, adding comments when he has them, and the walk passes quickly.

“So I’m in 4th year Rec and Leisure, but I guess you kinda know that since I’m the Rec and Leisure FOC. However you don’t know that I took a gap year off before university so I’m actually a year older than most people in 4th year. I think everyone who can should take some time off; it really helped me figure my shit out. How about you?” Akaashi hadn’t really been expecting the question, he’d just been enjoying listening to Bokuto.

“Oh, hmmm. I’m also a fourth year. I'm in the English department specializing in literature,” he responded then added, “I did not take a gap year, but I agree they can be very helpful for people.” Bokuto's eyes twinkled a little mischievously, 

“So you're younger than me?”

“I guess so.” 

“Hehe, you're a baby!”

“I’m literally only a year younger than you.” 

“Absolute baby.” 

Akaashi found himself sticking his tongue out at the other man, Bokuto laughed pretty hard at that.

Akaashi almost finds himself upset when they reach the athletics building, realizing the conversation will stop.

Another large, buff man with black hair sticking straight up is leaning against the door, arms crossed. Akaashi couldn’t help but wonder if all of Rec and Leisure was buff and used this much hair gel. It seemed likely if these two were any indication. 

“Bro! Took you long enough!” yelled the man leaning against the wall. 

“Sorry bro! Kaashi here walks slow!” Akaashi shot him a look.

Bokuto just smiled and shrugged, “It’s true you walk slow.” Akaashi ignored that and opened the door to the front of the building. 

“Kuroo, can you run and check that the sound system got turned off while I grab our stuff?” Bokuto asked the other man.

“Sure thing, dude,” he said, sending Bokuto a wink before running off.

Akaashi found himself following Bokuto into the building, trailing behind the taller man. He wasn’t really sure why; he had unlocked the door, that’s all he was supposed to do. 

Bokuto leaned over scooping up the back packs and bags, and then dug around in the front of them. Akaashi watched as Bokuto rummaged around and then triumphantly turned to him holding up the keys. 

“LOOK I FOUND THEM!” he shouted. Akaashi covered a laugh with his hand. Bokuto was beaming at him like he had just found his long lost mother, not a pair of keys. 

“I’m very glad, I would have had to yell at you if you couldn’t,” Akaashi teased. 

“You can yell? I kinda doubt that,” Bokuto shot back, his eyes twinkling with amusement. Both of them just stood in silence for a moment; Akaashi felt like he was getting sucked into those golden eyes, the kind smile. 

“So uh, what are you doing tonight?” Bokuto finally broke the silence. And as if the fates decided to answer for him Akaashis walkie-talkie boomed,   
“AKAASHI! WHERE ARE YOU! OPENING CEREMONY STARTS IN TWENTY AND NOTHING IS WORKING!” 

Akaashi gimaced, sighed “fuck,” and said, “Apparently I’m spending this evening holding this whole damn thing together. I’m sorry I have to go.” He nodded to Bokuto and started hastily heading off. 

“SEE YOU ‘ROUND, KAASHI!” He looked over his shoulder to see the white haired man jumping up and down waving goodbye to him. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight.


	2. A Helping Hand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!
> 
> Welcome back to chapter two of idiots falling in love. 
> 
> If at any point an o-week term comes up that I didn't explain well, please let me know so I can clear it up :) 
> 
> This one comes with a trigger warning and if you don't want spoilers/aren't worried about anxiety related triggers just scroll to the beginning of the chapter. A reminder to all though that I really truly do just want the bois happy so nothing terrible happens, promise. 
> 
> ~~
> 
> TW:  
> Anxiety and panic attacks. Implied/referenced former panic attacks   
>  Akaashi, and Bokuto help Hinata through a panic attack. Everyone's okay, everyone is safe, but if discussion of anxiety and panic attacks are bad for you maybe skip this chapter <3

The rest of the night and the next day flew by in a whirlwind of lost keys, misplaced items, missing leaders and lots of coffee. But finally, move-ins were done, check-ins were done and the first day of programming was set to start. 

Akaashi was making the rounds to check in on the help tents that the departments ran; several of them were open twenty-four hours, and he figured it was time to do a morning check up to see how the first full overnight had gone.

Everywhere he went departments were getting ready for the day, FOC were scrambling to make sure everything was in place, leaders were pouring coffee down each others throats, painting themselves various colours and getting ready for the day to come.

So far every booth he’d been to had had an uneventful night. A few stories of drunk lost first years, but nothing terrible and nothing worth getting fussed up about.  
Although O-week was technically a dry event, the unspoken rule was drunk students were tolerated as long as they weren’t assholes. Really, that was the main rule of O-week: “don’t be an asshole,” as long as you didn’t break that rule you could get away with a lot.

As Akaashi approached his last tent he realized he had left Rec and Leisure for last. His heart skipped a beat; he hadn’t seen the spiky-haired man since the first day but that was most likely cus they were both quite busy. Akaashi had found himself hoping he would run into Bokuto, and if you had accused him of volunteering for this morning check in because he was hoping to spot a certain white-haired FOC, he would never admit it, but you’d be right. 

Something about that genuine smile had gotten to Akaashi. O-week is filled with a lot of smiles, a lot of cheering and loud people, but Akaashi found that most of it felt forced to him. The leaders all tried so hard over the week, but with the lack of sleep and the physical and mental effort of O-week, most people learned to paint a smile on even if it didn’t touch their tired eyes. Bokutos smile however had not only lit up his eyes, but every line of his body. 

Akaashi remembered how his sadness had also painted every line of his body, and wondered if maybe Bokuto does everything with every fiber of his being. Akaashi wasn’t sure what it would be like to be that genuine and to feel so fully, he himself was reserved, guarded, often called stoic by his friends. He found it was safer to view the world from a neutral, level-headed standpoint.

As he approached the tent, he waved to the leaders there. He was sad to realize he saw no white hair or golden eyes among them. 

“How was your night?” he called to the small blonde girl. 

She yawned, “Long, but peaceful. Can’t wait to sleep.” 

Akaashi nodded, “Anything Feds can do for you?” he asked. 

The girl went on to tell him about a need for a power bar and more water bottles before the next overnight shift. He added the items to his list and started to walk away. Time to head back to the help desk and settle in for the rest of the day of putting out fires. 

As he walked away from the building he noticed off to the side of the path, under a tree, a first year student, head between their knees, shoulders moving up and down sporadically, hands clenched in their orange hair. It was a position he recognized instantly as he’s ended up in it many times before. He also recognized the large, white haired-man crouching next to them.

Akaashi was fairly certain Bokuto had it handled, and people generally didn’t want lots of people around during a panic attack. He was just about to start to walk away when Bokuto's eyes left the student and met his. They were wide, maybe a bit desperate, pleading for Akaashi’s help. Maybe Bokuto didn’t have this handled. 

As he approached he heard Bokuto say in a surprisingly soft voice, “My friend Akaashi is going to come over and hang out with us if that’s okay?” Akaashi ignored the tingling in his chest as he realized the other man had remembered his name. 

He stood back a little until he heard a tense, “okay” from the student. 

The kid was small, or at least beside Bokuto he looked tiny, and the fetal position he was in was only making him look smaller. His breathing was a bit erratic, nearing hyperventilating. 

“Hey, I’m Bokuto's friend, Akaashi. I’m going to sit down beside you and do some breathing exercises if that’s okay with you?” he said, calmly sitting down on the other side of the kid from Bokuto. 

“Bokuto, would you like to join me?” he said, meeting Bokuto's eyes for the first time. They were filled with relief, and Akaashi wondered how long these two had been here alone. 

“Of course. Love me some breathing exercises,” Bokuto said, a smile cracking his lips. 

“Okay, now everyone breathe in- one, two, three, four. Out - two, three, four.” He repeated that several times, Bokuto and him breathing in time with his counted steady rhythm.

The student’s breathing was starting to match theirs, becoming more even. But then it hitched, going erratic again; the knuckles of his hands going white. Bokuto and Akaashi shared a panicked look above the student. 

“Hinata,” Bokuto said, as if answering Akaashi’s unasked question. 

“Hinata, look at me. I want you to breathe with me,” Akaashi said, voice more forceful. The kid looked up at Akaashi, his large brown eyes were red and puffy from crying, his face pinched with nerves.

“Okay, ready? Innnnnnn, and ouuuuuuuut,” Akaashi started, keeping direct eye contact with Hinata. 

After several moments of this, Hinita’s breathing started to calm, and his hands came down to his sides. They kept breathing in time to Akaashi’s counting, never breaking eye contact.

That worked well enough that the kid eventually calmed enough to speak. “Thanks,'' he squeaked. “There’s just so many people, and everything is so different.” 

Akaashi nodded, “I remember my first week,” he said with a grimace, “It wasn’t too much different than this, but I didn’t have people to sit with me while it happened.” He made the mistake of locking eyes with Bokuto after he said that, and Bokuto's eyes held him with an intensity and sadness that Akaashi hadn’t been prepared for. 

“We have your back, though, Hinata,'' Bokuto said, and despite the comment being to the student between them, his eyes never left Akaashi’s. 

“So what would you like to do? I find staying busy and distracted helps but, I can escort you back to the dorm, or a more low key place, if you want?” Akaashi asked. 

“I… I think I’d like to stay”, Bokuto beamed and the kid smiled back at him. 

“Yah know, I’ve met a few other students in your program. I’ll introduce you. There's this one kid, Kageyama, who I think maybe only talks about volleyball,” Bokuto offered. 

Hinata’s face lit up, “I love volleyball!” he said. 

Akaashi had no idea how Bokuto had known to go for volleyball, but soon he had Hinata over with a few other students, introducing him to the tall, lanky, dark-haired guy, who indeed seemed to only talk about volleyball. 

Akaashi hovered back a bit, letting the Rec and Leisure team do their thing.

Bokuto jogged over once the introductions were done. 

“Those two are going to get on like a house fire,” Bokuto said, laughing and running his hand through his hair. He gestured with his head to the two who were clearly in a heated debate about something, probably volleyball related. 

Akaashi let a small smile creep onto his face, “I’m glad. That will help Hinita a lot, I’m sure.” 

Bokuto nodded. They stood in silence for a moment. 

“Hey ,thank-”  
“-I should get-'' they tripped over each other, their words coming out at the same time. 

“Sorry,” they both said. 

Bokuto grinned, wiggling his eyebrows, “So in sync,” he chuckled. 

Akaashi raised an eyebrow at him, “Go ahead.” 

“I just wanted to thank you,” Bokuto rushed, “I’d been with him for almost thirty minutes before you came, and we had been doing the list five things you see, four you hear, three you feel, two you taste, thing, but he kept getting kinda distracted, freaking out again. Every other thing I know to do for a panic attack just went straight out of my head, and I didn’t want to leave him to get backup, and well, thank you.”

“You know you could have called for back up with the walkie-talkie,” Akaashi responded, pointing at Bokuto's hip. Bokuto looked down, saw the walkie-talkie, and looked up with a mix of genuine horror and shock that had Akaashi covering another smile behind his hand. 

“Oh. Oh god I’m an idiot,” he said, chuckling and slapping his hand against his forehead. 

“Don’t worry about it. Dealing with panic attacks, whether they are your own or someone else’s, can be all consuming. But as a FOC you do need to remember your radio.”  
Bokuto nodded, looking properly scolded. “Sorry Kaashi,” he mumbled. 

“Okay, well, we should probably both get back to work,” Akaashi pointed out, looking over his shoulder back towards the students gathering.

Bokuto nodded but didn’t move. He was looking at Akaashi strangely, maybe a little sad, maybe a little concerned, he wasn’t quite sure. Akaashi raised an eyebrow and hmmmed, hoping to prompt the other man into speaking. It worked. 

“I just... what you said before...” he trailed off, took a deep breath and then met Akaashi’s eyes, holding his gaze firmly. His next words came out as a rush, and much louder than Akaashi would have liked. 

“What you said before about being alone during first year- I’m sorry you went through that. I’m sorry no one had your back. You don't deserve that. You deserve to have people taking care of you.” 

Akaashi just blinked at him. It took him a moment to process what had just come out of the other man's mouth. Bokutos cheeks were a bit pink from his speech. Akaashi was fairly certain the warmth in his face meant he likewise had rosy cheeks. 

“Oh. Uh. Thank you,” he managed to get out, “that’s very kind.” He let a small genuine smile grace his lips. Bokutos smile in response to the praise lit up his face, and Akaashi felt oddly warm and fuzzy while looking into those eyes. 

“OY! BO! STOP FLIRTING AND GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!” yelled the other pointy-haired FOC. Both Akaashi and Bokutos faces went bright red. With a nod Akaashi turned to leave- 

“Wait!” Akaashi stopped and looked over his shoulder at the man. 

“You're working the help desk right?” Bokuto asked. 

“Yes. I’ll be there most of the week,” Akaashi replied, confused as to why he was being asked. His confusion was not answered as Bokuto just nodded and waved with his whole body, and then ran away.

Akaashi walked away heart pounding. What the heck was going on? Why did this man with silly hair and insanely nice thighs make him feel all warm and fluttery, and what did that other FOC mean by flirting? Bokuto wasn’t flirting with him, was he?? He’d have to talk with Suga about that when he got back to the help desk.


	3. A Vegetable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Monday,
> 
> Today we get our first glance over at Bokuto's perspective! We will kinda be going back and forth from now on cus my brain just decided that needed to happen. 
> 
> Heads up the poems they discuss in this chapter are very NSFW and contain explicit sexual content, although nothing too wild is said by the Bois. I'll link them down at the bottom in case you want to be able to enjoy them. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Bokuto was fairly certain Akaashi was some kind of guardian angel. A very, very pretty, guardian angel. Twice now that man had saved his ass. When Bokuto had first seen him, he knew he was fucked. The dark messy hair, the beautiful eyes that danced between blue-green and black depending on the light. Shit, despite being probably the busiest he had ever been in his life he could not keep his mind off the other man. Akaashi's soft voice, the way you could watch him try to fight a smile tugging at his lips. Ugh! 

Bokuto kept feeling so stupid that he even needed Akaashi’s help so much, but every time he genuinely did not seem to mind helping him. Well, that is Akaashi’s job, but still, he could have been grumpy about it, he could have been less kind about it, but he hadn’t been. 

Akaashi had looked noticeably more tired the second time they had met, hair even messier than before, bags under his eyes. 

“Do you think he’s sleeping enough?!” Bokuto blurted out, looking over at Kuroo sitting beside him, eating lunch. 

Kuroo smirked, “Dude, I don’t know who you're talking about, but if they are involved with O-week then no. No one working O-week is getting enough sleep.”

Bokuto nodded at this, his brow furrowed in thought. Of course Kuroo was right, he himself had only gotten four hours of sleep, and Akaashi must be higher up in command if he’s working the help desk.

"Do you mean that guy who unlocked the athletics building for us?” Kuroo asked after a moment, then added, “He was very pretty,” he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. 

Bokuto smacked his friend “Yes. Akaashi seemed tired this morning. He helped me with the student having a panic attack,” he added in response to Kuroo’s questioning look. 

“Bro you are sooo smitten,” Kuroo replied, with a smug smile. 

“Brooooo, fuck, I know,” he said slamming his head down on to the table. 

“So what are you going to do about it?”

That’s how the next morning Bokuto ended up standing at the help desk with an extra large coffee in one hand, and several sugars and creamers in the other.

It was early, too early. Akaashi wasn’t here yet and Bokuto found himself shifting uncomfortably. What if Akaashi had already gotten coffee? What if he didn’t drink coffee? What if he was a tea person? Fuck, he should have gotten him tea, he seemed like such a tea person! God he was such an idiot. His worrying was interrupted by a familiar, “Bokuto?” 

Akaashi was there, with glitter on his face and sprinkled through his hair. Maybe he was a literal angel, Bokuto thought as he watched the way the silver glitter caught the light against the dark hair, absolutely memorized by the sight. 

Akaashi flicked his eyes towards his hair, “Ah, Suga got me. He decided today was glitter day, and refused to take no for an answer.” Bokuto ripped his gaze from the man's hair only to be met with those beautiful eyes and a small smile. 

“I, uh, it looks good... You look good,” Bokuto stammered stupidly. FUCKING glitter sprinkled across this man's cheek bones was not a sight he was prepared for. His cheeks heated up realizing what he said; damn his mouth running away without him.

“Thank you. Do you need something?” Akaashi asked, a slight blush on his own cheeks.

Bokuto blinked and shook his head, both as a no, and in hopes of clearing it. Akaashi tilted his head in question.

“I um, brought you coffee because I thought maybe you could use some caffeine, cus well you just seemed kinda tired the other day and Kuroo said anyone working O-week could use more caffeine, but I didn’t know what you liked so I just got it black and brought stuff you could put into it if you-”

Akaashi put a hand on his arm shutting him up. “Thank you,” he said, a small smile playing at the edge of his lips. “You are correct, I do need caffeine. I actually woke up late and hadn’t had time to get some yet.” Now he was letting a rare full smile grace his lips and Bokuto thought maybe his brain was going to malfunction at the sight.

“I take it black, for future reference.” Bokuto beamed, regaining some of his composure at the insinuation of future interactions. 

“I like my coffee like I like my men, dark and handsome,” Bokuto said with a wink, handing the coffee to Akaashi. 

“I have a hard time believing you drink your coffee black. Also, how can a coffee be handsome?” came the smug retort.

“Look, it sounded good when Kuroo suggested it,” Bokuto said, with a shrug. “‘I like my men sweet and creamy’, just doesn’t sound nearly as cool.” Akaashi had his hand over his mouth, which Bokuto was fairly sure meant he was covering a smile. He counted that as a success. 

“Well whatever your taste is, thank you. Really. Like most people, I survive O-week through an insane amount of coffee and pizza.” 

“Ah yes, I’m at-” Bokuto pulled out his phone and checked his notes. “I’m at eight coffees and two pizza meals.” 

Akaashi’s eyebrows shot up. He pulled out a small brown notebook. “I’m at six, about to be seven, coffees, and three pizza meals,” he says after flipping through to the correct page. 

“That's a lot of pizza over four days,” Bokuto chuckled. 

“Yeah I desperately need a vegetable. I’m living off of whatever weird, free food I can find at campus events right now. I’ve had a shocking number of brownies.” He runs his hands through his hair as he says it, and the glitter shifts, and god Bokuto wants to run his hands through that glittery black hair too. 

“I know what you mean. I have eaten about five wraps at this point. We fed them to the leaders on a prep day and I’ve just been living off of the leftovers since.” Akaashi grimaced and nodded.  
Bokutos phone dinged.

“Ah shit. I gotta go! Programming starts at ten!” He smiled at Akaashi. “I’ll be back with more coffee, and to compare numbers again tomorrow!” he yelled over his shoulder as he ran out.

Akaashi was left standing there, stunned. Bokuto had brought him coffee, and told him he looked good. That was definitely flirting, right? 

He sat down a little stunned, sipping the coffee. Suga came and sat next to him. 

“Was that him?” his grey haired friend asked, leaning towards him eagerly, the glitter he was covered in sparkling in the light. 

Akaashi nodded. “He brought me coffee.”

Suga smiled. “Oh he brought you that?” Akaashi hmmed in agreement, confused by the amusement in Suga's eyes. 

“Well that answers your, ‘is he flirting?’ question.” 

Akaashi’s eyebrows shot up, “It does???” Suga chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. 

“Well for one thing, he went out of his way to bring you coffee. People generally don’t do that for people they aren’t interested in, but uh, even more obviously,” Suga pointed at the side of the coffee cup.  
Unnoticed by Akaashi until now, where the label normally said, “careful it’s hot,” someone had crossed out “it’s” and written “you are”. Akaashi blushed furiously, looking over at Suga a little panicked.

“He thinks you’re hot Kaashi, in case you missed it.” 

Akaashi didn’t know what to do with this information and the hammering of his heart, so he just drank his coffee.

Several hours later, probably around when people who weren’t running all over campus solving problems were eating lunch, Akaashi came back to his seat to find Suga wiggling his eyebrows at him. 

“What?” he grumbled. Despite the sweet start to his day, he’d been having a rough time that included getting punched while breaking up a leader fight, and wasn’t quite up to Suga’s antics right now. 

“A certain buff, beautiful man dropped by and left you something,” Suga said, unfazed by Akaashi’s grumpy tone. 

At that, Akaashi noticed the bundle on his chair. It was clearly a lunch wrap, and on the paper around the outside was written:

You’re a zu-cutie  
-Bo 

Akaashi took the paper off, biting into it to find it was mostly zucchini. Once he had had a few mouthfuls, he found his bad mood going away. 

“That man is fucking adorable,” Suga said. 

Akaashi nodded, “He called me a zu-cutie,” he mumbled, blushing. 

“I’m not sure that makes sense, but this man's heart really is in the right place.” 

Akaashi let a smile spread across his face, “I told him I needed a vegetable.”

After that first time, Bokuto showed up often with a coffee and/or some kind of vegetable, both accompanied by a dumb, flirty pun. Akaashi’s favourite so far was a coffee cup that just said, “idk, I’m tired, you pretty”. 

They often chatted for a bit before one of them would have to run off for something. Akaashi really loved these little moments they shared. The conversation came easy, and Bokuto's presence always left him feeling warm. 

On the third day of these exchanges, Bokuto showed up with a bag of carrots. 

“Oh, no pun to go with carrots?” Akaashi teased, noticing a lack of note. 

Bokuto shook his head, “Sadly Kuroo and I couldn’t come up with anything.” 

Akaashi decided to go out on a limb, “Have you heard of the poems ‘The Sex Lives of Vegetables’?” 

Bokuto looked startled but was smiling, “No, what??? What is that?” 

Akaashi hid a smile and then grabbed his phone saying, “One of my profs was obsessed with them. It’s a collection of poems about... well the sex lives of vegetables.” He pointed to the carrots in Bokuto's hands,  
“Those reminded me of the one about carrots, let me find it for you. It’s a ride.”

Bokuto came over to stand beside him and read the poem, their bodies close, pressed a bit together so they could both read.

After a moment Bokuto giggled and said, “I’m never going to be able to look at a carrot without blushing again.” 

Akaashi smiled, “You should read the one about cucumbers, they supposedly have an anal fixation.” 

The emotions that flitted across Bokuto's face at that, were numerous. He ended up doubled over in laughter but got out, “You studied this in a course??”

“Lit profs are crazy. I’ve studied a lot of weird shit in the name of poetry,” his heart was doing flip-flops at the other man's closeness. 

Bokuto finally got himself under control as his walkie-talkie blared, “Earth to lover boy! Your flirting time is over, we got programming to run!” 

They both were getting used to calls like this from Kuroo, and Bokuto jogged away with a wave. 

Akaashi thought to himself, “If this is flirting, I think I like it”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First thanks to my friend Chloe for coming up with zu-cutie, it's terrible and perfect <3 
> 
> Second, enjoy the wild and wacky, very sexual, poetry of Lorna Crozier, and never be able to look at vegetables the same again! And yes like Akaashi, I did totally read this for a class in University.
> 
> Carrots can be found here (yah gotta scroll past peas first): https://clinock.com/tag/the-sex-life-of-vegetables/  
> Cucumbers can be found here: http://canpoetry.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/crozier/poem7.htm  
> And a bonus undiscussed Onions: http://canpoetry.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/crozier/poem6.htm
> 
> Third does anyone have a preference from morning, evening, or mid-day updates on this?


	4. A Nap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo!
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone leaving Kudo's and comments, you make my heart so happy <3
> 
> Have some more of Bokuto being the sweetest boi in the whole world. My advice, if you ever find yourself a person who lets you sleep more during o-week, protect them at all costs.

On day four of O-week, Bokuto found himself heading to the Rest Room, which was set up for leaders to get a mental health break. It was just a small classroom that had shit like colouring books, and sheets with guided breathing exercises in it. However, it was mostly used for napping by some of the higher-ups, since the leaders didn’t really use it. 

Bokuto needed a break. He had dealt with two student panic attacks, a group of lost students, some petty leader fighting and several leaders straight up just not showing up. It wasn’t even noon. Some days were like that. Kuroo had told him to go take a break since he’d taken the brunt force of handling the issues this morning, while Kuroo kept programming on schedule.

When he finally got to the Rest Room, the last thing he expected to see was Akaashi curled up on the floor on some pillows asleep. His head resting on his arm, face softer than Bokuto had ever seen it. He looked oddly small, all curled up, and Bokuto had an extremely distinct need to protect this sleeping angel. 

He sat down near him, not too close to be weird, but close enough he could see the man's face, eyelids fluttering in dreams.

“Kaashi, imma steal a pillow,” he said, voice low and soft so he wouldn’t wake the other man. 

“Hmmmmmm,” mumbled the dark haired man, not moving at all. Bokuto grabbed one of the pillows by Akaashi’s side, put it behind his head and almost immediately passed out.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but he woke to knocking on the door. He groaned and stretched, then shot a glance at Akaashi who had an arm slung over his face and got up to answer it. 

“Sup?” Bokuto said, stretching and taking in the grey haired man in front of him. He was fairly certain this was the dude who worked the help desk with Akaashi. 

“Is Akaashi here? We need another set of hands to move some stuff,” the guy said. Bokuto shot a glance over his shoulder and decided he would do literally anything to keep that peaceful look on Akaashi’s face a while longer. 

“Yeah he’s here, but how about I lend you a hand and we let him sleep a bit more,” Bokuto said, probably a bit too loud since Akaashi stirred a bit in his sleep. 

The other man processed this. “Oh! Uh sure, if you don’t mind?”

“I’d prefer Akaashi gets more rest,” Bokuto said with a smile in the direction of the raven haired man.

He shot Kuroo a text to let him know what was up:

Bo: Helping out Feds for a bit. Let me know if you need me  
Kuroo: What happened to resting??  
Bo: I got about a 20min nap I’m good  
Kuroo: This better involve that hot Feds dude  
Bo: It doesn’t not involve Agaashi...  
Kuroo: *Smug emoji*

Bokuto looked up as Suga who was opening a door and sayinh, “So this is what we need to move.” The room was filled with maybe a hundred or so boxes, and Bokuto’s eyes widened. 

“Yeah I know it’s a lot,” Suga said with a sigh. “It’s the glow sticks for tonight’s blackout party. The team that was supposed to do it yesterday conveniently forgot, and well it’s Akaashi’s and my job to fix other peoples fuck ups.” 

“Guess this is today’s weight training. Where do they have to go?” 

Suga grimaced, “There are supposed to be four boxes in each building participating in the event. So, basically all over the campus.” 

Bokuto laughed at that, a slightly manic laugh. “Jesus. Fuck, you and Kaashi were gunna do this yourselves?”

“One, Akaashi is shockingly strong, and two, you signed up for this without asking what you would be doing, so that’s on you.” Bokuto shrugged. Some extra exercise wasn’t going to hurt him, and at least Akaashi was getting the break he deserved. 

“I guess let’s get to it!”

Suga and Bokuto spent the next thirty minutes, or so, walking to various parts of campus, Suga with one box and Bokuto with the other three.

Bokuto found Suga was pleasant to be around. The grey haired man was a fourth year, had met Akaashi in their dorms back in first year and been friends since. He also learned that despite seeming like a calm and collected person, Suga had a wild side. He was currently telling Bokuto a story about how his boyfriend had to bribe him to get off a frat house roof after one too many drinks.

“There were pretty frat boys up there, and when I’m drunk I’m weak to a good bicep.” 

Bokuto chuckled at this,“How does the boyfriend feel about that?” 

“Eh, it normally works in his favour, so he doesn’t mind,” Suga responded with a wry smile. “We’ve been together since first year so at this point he’s pretty used to my antics.”

“That sounds nice. Trusting someone like that,” Bokuto said with a smile, following Suga into the last building they had to deliver to. 

Suga pointed to where to put the packages, and they dropped them off and started back towards the student centre. 

“Yah know you're a pretty buff man yourself,” Suga said, looking Bokuto up and down. 

“Why of course I am! Can’t be a star volleyball player with noodle arms!”

“Ah so you sport!”

Bokuto nodded. “Currently vice-captain of the volleyball team,” he beamed with pride. 

“And you manage to do that and be a FOC at the same time!?” Suga looked surprised.

“I don’t get nearly enough sleep,” he meant to say it as a joke, but it came out a little more honest then intended and well, it was very much the truth. Bokuto’s life the last year had been insane. He had five practices a week, at least, games regularly, weekly FOC meetings and also just regular university classes to keep up with. He was not sure how he had managed it, and he’s pretty sure without Kuroo to joke around with he would have snapped months ago.

“I'm going to be honest, I’m looking forward to this being over.” 

Suga nodded. “Aren't we all.”

As they rounded the corner back to the help desk, Bokuto spotted Akaashi; dark hair ruffled from sleep, clothing a bit askew. He scowled as they approached. 

“Why didn't you wake me?” he shot at Suga. “It was only supposed to be a twenty minute nap and apparently I’ve been asleep for an hour and a half??”

“This idiot volunteered to cover for you, so you could nap longer,” Suga stuck a thumb at Bokuto. 

“Hey don’t call me an idiot after I helped you move all that shit!” 

“You could have been napping but chose not to, that’s an idiot move.” Bokuto stuck his tongue out and Suga responded in kind, both of them laughing at their childish behaviour.

At the banter Akaashi’s face softened, “Oh,” he whispered. 

Bokuto turned to him quickly, “I hope that’s okay? I just. I went to the Rest Room to nap and you looked so cozy that when Suga came to get you I couldn’t bring myself to disturb you, so I offered to help.” There was definitely a blush creeping up on Bokuto's face; he knew he was being loud; he knew he was talking fast, but suddenly he was filled with absolute and utter fear he had over stepped. He had acted rashly not really thought it through, gut instinct. What if he was wrong, or Akaashi thought he was weird or creepy. He deflated, he could feel it happening. He started at his shoes, shuffling. 

“Sorry,” he mumbled to his shoes. 

If he hadn’t been looking at his shoes he would have seen Akaashi covering a sleepy smile and a blush of his own.

“Sorry? Bokuto, why on earth are you apologizing?” Akaashi sounded baffled, not angry or upset. Bokuto chanced a glance up at the other man, only to be met with a softness in those sea green eyes that made his breath hitch. 

“I should be thanking you. I was up until four AM last night with drunk and disorderly calls. I very much needed the extra sleep. So thank you, Bokuto. What you did was extremely kind.” The words went straight to Bokuto's heart, and he straightened with pride. He had done good, he had done good for Akaashi. All the swagger and confidence came back to him 

“I’m your saviour, right?” he teased, wiggling his eyebrows. Akaashi grimaced and punched his arm

“Don’t be an ass.”

“YOU SWORE!” 

“You’ve heard me swear before!”

“Have I?” 

“I swear all the time.” 

“Maybe you’ve just never sworn AT me before.” 

“Well get used to it if you are going to be an ass.” Akaashi’s eyes were sparkling with amusement and a small smile was tugging at his lips.

Bokuto wasn’t sure his heart could handle it, those rare little smiles really did a number on him.

“Hey! Akaashi! Sorry to interrupt!” The man was tall, thin but muscular and blonde, eyes peering at them through glasses. His words were kind but his voice was sharp.

“Ah Tsukki! What’s going on?” Akaashi said. 

“You are supposed to be working the lunch distribution,” was the calm but harsh reply. Bokuto didn’t particularly like how this guy was talking to Akaashi. A weird protectiveness bubbled up inside of him 

“Hey give the man a break, he’ll be there,” Bokuto found himself snapping back. Akaashi put a hand on his arm stopping him from saying more. 

“I’m coming Tsukki, just a sec,” Akaashi was holding Bokuto's gaze in his own. Bokuto felt lost in an ocean.

“Whatever,” mumbled the blond guy, walking away. Akaashi’s gaze was questioning, searching for something in Bokuto's. 

“I don’t like that guy, or how he talked to you,” Bokuto said with a pout. Akaashi softened a bit, squeezing Bokuto's arm 

“That’s just how Tsukki is. He's... He doesn’t actually mean anything by it.” Bokuto's head went empty with the feel of Akaashi’s hand on his bicep. He mumbled some form of acknowledgment. 

“Hey, what are you doing tonight?” Akaashi suddenly said. Bokuto was absolutely thrown, blinking at Akaashi in confusion. “I’ve gotta work the dumb blackout party, but I’m at the dance station and the music should at least be good if you want to join,” Akaashi added.   
Was Akaashi asking him out?? Was this real?? He was stunned to silence. 

“It's fine if you don’t want to,” Akaashi added at Bokuto's silence, a look something like panic crossing the dark haired man's face. 

“No. NO! I'd love to!” Bokuto practically yelled. “Ah fuck, wait, I’ve got an overnight at the Rec tent though, and I’m supposed to spend that time sleeping,” he rushed grimacing. He really wanted to spend the time with Akaashi. Stupid O-week schedule.

He pouted mumbling “O-week is dumb,” 

“Well, why don’t I drop by the Rec tent after my shift and say hi. I think the timing should work that you are starting as I’m ending.'' There was definitely a smile on Akaashi’s lips as he said that, and Bokuto's heart was going mad. 

“I’d like that,” he managed to get out. 

“I’ll bring you a coffee. Sweet and creamy,” Akasshi’s eyes danced with amusement. Bokuto thought his heart might explode.

“I should get to the lunch distribution,” Akaashi said, “And you should get back to whatever your actual job is.”

“I’ll see you later.” Bokuto smiled. 

Akasshi leaned over and squeezed his bicep, muttering, “Again, thank you for today,” and then walked away.

Bokuto stared at the back of his head, grinning like an absolute idiot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can we all agree that Suga is a chaotic force of nature? Can you even imagine the insanity that man would get up to at frat parties??
> 
> Why is Tsukki not a first year in this fic? Who knows, I just needed a salty leader, he's probably only a second year here XD 
> 
> ALSO OMG Kaashi asked BO OUT!!! Come back tomorrow for kinda sorta dates?!?!?!? ;)


	5. A Dance Lesson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> Not to toot my own horn, but this is a really fun chapter!
> 
> Hope you Enjoy :)

“I, uh, think I tried to ask Bokuto out,” a rather stunned Akaashi told Suga as they hung up the “blackout party” banner. 

Suga’s mouth dropped open, “I have so many questions!” 

Akaashi hmmed for him to go on. 

“Okay, one, you asked HIM out?? And two, tried!? What do you mean tried?!?”

Akaashi let out a deep sigh, “I don’t know what happened, he was just looking at me with those big stupid eyes of his, and suddenly I was asking him to come to the event with me tonight.” 

Suga giggled, “You got lost in the sauce of those eyes.”

“Gross. But not incorrect.” 

“So he’s coming tonight?” 

Akaashi frowned, “No. This is where the ‘tried' comes in.” 

Suga’s eyes went wide, “He said no! That man has done everything he can to flirt with you and show he’s into you, but when you ask him out he says no!?!?” Suga was visibly angry, “I’ll kick his ass” 

“That won’t be necessary. He only said no cus he was busy with O-week stuff. He has an overnight tonight,” Akaashi said with a sigh. 

“Oh. I guess that’s reasonable,” Suga grumbled, very much mirroring what Akaashi felt. 

“But I offered to go visit him after my shift,” Akaashi added. 

Suga raised his eyebrows, “Oh my god. You are SOOO into this dude!” Akasshi just shrugged. “I can't blame you. He’s beautiful, and apparently the kindest man alive. Who skips the chance to nap to carry boxes!?” Akaashi shook his head in bewilderment and agreement. 

When he had woken up in the Rest Room and seen the time, he had been extremely confused. But finding out that he had gotten to sleep more because Bokuto had decided to do the work for him had made Akaashi’s heart melt. 

Why the hell was that man being so nice to him? Suga was sure it was because Bokuto was into him, and the flirty messages that came with the coffee and vegetables made that seem likely, but honestly Akaashi had a hard time wrapping his head around that. 

Bokuto was everything he wasn't; he was energetic, enthusiastic, quick to smile, and to let his every emotion show without a moment of shame. Bokuto was larger than life, and Akaashi couldn’t believe someone like that would want quite stiff Akaashi. Bokuto was probably just one of those overly kind and accidentally flirty people. Akaashi didn’t mind if that was the case, quietly pinning after his friends was a pastime he had perfected over the years, however he didn’t normally ask them out. Maybe Bokuto's energy and confidence had rubbed off on him. Either way, he got all warm and fuzzy thinking about seeing Bokuto later that night.

Akaashi’s ears were ringing as he left the party. He was covered in glitter, and neon face paint was streaked across his face and body. On top of that, at some point during the night another Feds rep had told him tonight was mandatory crop top night and cut his black t-shirt into a crop top. His sweat pants hug low on his hips, his tummy barred to the world. He knew he probably looked ridiculous, but if you were doing O-week trying to look cool then you were doing it wrong. 

He half stumbled, half jogged towards the Rec tent. Despite being extremely sober he felt kind of drunk, the noise and the amount of people had left him feeling woozy. Also, the thought of seeing Bokuto wasn’t helping. He stopped only to get a coffee from the refreshment station, and filled it with cream and sugar.

When he made it to the tent he heard shouting and could see Bokuto waving his arms around. 

It wasn’t hard to hear Bokuto say, “WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN NO ONES SHOWED UP FOR THIS SHIFT!” even from this distance. 

Followed by some mumbled reply and then, “THEY CAN'T ALL ACTUALLY BE SICK!? THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE RIGHT?” 

Akaashi finally was close enough to see Bokuto was talking to the other FOC with the spiky black hair. 

Despite his voice, he didn’t look angry, just upset, “I CAN'T DO AN OVERNIGHT BY MYSELF AND YOU DID ONE YESTERDAY!” 

This was a fairly common overnight problem, people pulling out last minute, leaving the others scrambling to find covers. Fed's policy required you to have two people, preferably one male and one female, but they weren’t picky when desperate. 

“I’ll do it,” Akaashi found himself saying. The men had been too into their conversation to notice his approach but turned to him now. 

Bokutos arm dropped to his side, eyes wide. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before saying, “What?” 

Akaashi smiled, “You helped me earlier, I'll help you now. I’ll do the overnight shift with you,” Akaashi said with a nonchalant shrug. Bokuto opened his mouth like he was going to protest but was shut up by Kuroo slapping him on the back.

“There ya go bro, problem solved. You just needed one more person and here one is.”

Bokuto and Kuroo made eye contact, clearly having some kind of argument with their eyes that Bokuto lost, throwing his arms up, “Fine!”

Akaashi was now worried. Maybe Bokuto didn’t want to spend that much time with him. 

“Thank you bro! I haven’t seen Kenma in like two weeks, and I misss himmmmm,” Kuroo whined, then patted Akaashi’s shoulder as he went by, “Have fun you Two! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” And with that Bokuto and Akaashi were left staring at each other.

Akaashi didn’t know what to say; Bokuto was giving him such a strange look. Clearly he had done something wrong.

“I brought you a coffee,” he eventually ventured, holding it out to Bokuto. “It’s sweet and creamy…” he mumbled, no longer having the nerve to add the flirty line he was planning. He didn't make eye contact with Bokuto as the other man took the coffee from him with a thanks then, “Akaashi, I’m so sorry.” 

Well that’s not what he was expecting to hear.

“I know you just worked a shift, and now you have the midnight to eight AM shift, and if you want you can sleep and I’ll just be on duty the whole time,” Bokuto's voice was getting kind of frantic, going up and shockingly quiet for Bokuto, “You already work so hard and you said you were up till four AM last night, or something, and you worked all day, and I just feel so terrible that you are having to cover for me like this. I should have just made Kuroo stay,” Akasshi looked up to see Bokuto was full on pouting now. 

“You’re worried about me?” Akaashi said, confused. 

“Of course!” Bokuto said, hand not full off coffee flying up then landing in his hair, as Akaashi very quietly said, “I thought you didn’t want to spend time with me.” 

Bokuto's eyes went wide with horror, “AKAASHI!” He shouted, “Nooooooooo. Of course I want to spend time with you. I'm just worried, is all.” 

Akaashi blushed, then sighed with relief, “Oh! Well don’t worry about me, it’s a badge of honour among the Feds to do an overnight.”

Bokuto chuckled, “Well, okay then. I guess welcome to the Rec and Leisure overnight!” 

Bokuto led Akaashi into the tent. It kinda reminded Akaashi of a safari tent, with its canvas sides and high ceiling. The inside however looked more like a university students bedroom. It had a Bluetooth speaker, a ratty old couch, foam mats on the floor, and Christmas lights circling around the perimeter. There were blankets, snacks and extension cords strewn about, and the whole place felt very chaotic but oddly well thought out. People throwing together whatever they had to make a comfortable space, with anything you might need through the week. The front of the tent was pulled open so that students wandering by could see inside and ask the leaders for help. 

“The first aid kit is here,” Bokuto said pointing, “and the phone chargers are here. And the snacks are there. And anything left in the tent is fair game, so make yourself at home!” Bokuto seemed pretty proud of the place and Akaashi wondered how much of a role he had in setting it up.

Bokuto plopped down on the couch at the back of the tent, Akaashi sat on the floor. Some random chill music came out of the bluetooth speaker. It was all very good vibes, it was nice to just sit together in silence, resting, Bokuto happily sipping on the coffee Akaashi brought him.

And then the clock struck 12:30, and all the official events going on on campus ended. Suddenly Bokuto and Akaashi were quite busy giving directions and chatting with students walking by. Many just wanted to talk and tell them about some strange or funny thing that had happened to them that day but others had questions about campus or needed directions.

Bokuto handled them all with a grace and charm Akaashi envied. Conversations flowed, questions were answered or deflected flawlessly, Bokuto was clearly in his element. Akaashi wasn’t sure why this surprised him, Bokuto was a FOC, he had been chosen as a FOC for a reason, but with Akaashi he was so often rambling and silly that seeing him this put together was still a shock. He wasn’t aware he could be, well, this suave. Akaashi answered questions too, more quickly, and he hmmed and oood at the right spots of peoples stories. 

He finished up with a pair of students looking for recommendations for a restaurant, only to find Bokuto looking uncomfortable talking to three girls. They were giggling a lot and clearly trying to flirt with him, placing hands on his biceps. Bokuto had gone from a charming man to a scared cornered animal, his eyes searching for an escape. Akaashi decided to give him one, praying it wouldn’t backfire. 

He walked over and wrapped his arm around Bokuto’s waist. Bokuto looked at him, clearly a bit startled, “Hey babe,” Akaashi said, leaning his head on Bokuto's shoulder. 

“Hey,” Bokuto said, blushing. He didn’t move away, and after a beat he wrapped his arm around Akaashi’s shoulder. 

Akaashi was now nuzzled snuggly into Bokuto's side, and he turned his gaze to the girls, “Soooo how was your night?” he asked. 

The girls were all staring in stunned silence at the two men, clearly very, very thrown by this development.

“They were just telling me they were at the blackout party you planned, Kaashi,” Bokuto chimed in.

“Oh, did you girls enjoy it?” 

“Uh, yeah it was great,” one of the girls finally said, hesitantly.

“So, uh, you two are dating??” another one added. Akaashi nodded, moving one of his hands to Bokuto's chest. It felt oddly natural. 

“This one here is a good egg. I’m a very lucky man.” 

Bokuto giggled at that, “No, I am.” 

“Uh, well I guess we should go,'' the girls said, and then the three of them wandered away, befuddled. The moment they were out of sight Bokuto took his arm off Akaashi, turned, and dropped his head onto his shoulder instead.

“Thank you! Seventeen year old girls scare the crap out of me,” he breathed. 

“You looked like you needed a rescue, and I’m more than happy to provide it.” That’s when Akaashi realized he still had a hand on Bokuto's chest, he took it off to pet the top of Bokuto's head reassuringly. Bokuto hemmed in pleasure almost like a purring cat, and the vibration sent shivers down Akaashi’s spine. 

“You're cold!” Bokuto said, lifting his head, his golden eyes accusing the green ones they met. 

“I’m fine, honest” 

“No you're not! You’re in a crop top and the temperature is dropping!”

“I’m really fine Bo-” he was cut off by Bokuto putting his arms around him and pulling him into his chest. At first Akaashi was too stunned to react, but then he decided ‘why the fuck not’, and snuggled into Bokuto’s chest, wrapping his arms around him too. 

“See, this is much warmer,” Bokuto said rather loudly, right by Akaashi’s ear. 

“Bo, I'm right here, you don’t need to yell,” Akaashi half heartedly scolded. Bokuto's arms around him were strong and warm, and the man smelled like cedar and fresh laundry. He was extremely aware of every part of himself touching the other man. He was so warm. Akaashi would probably pay to stay there forever.

*cough* *cough*

The two men snapped apart. Spinning to see what had made the noise, Akaashi’s eyes settled on the ginger who had had the panic attack the other day, and behind him the tall black haired dude Bokuto had introduced him to. 

“Jesus Chibi-Chan, you scared the crap out of us,” Bokuto said, chuckling and patting the kid’s head. Akaashi relaxed at that, tension going out of his body. Every O-week, leaders, FOC, and Feds inevitably would pick out favourites of the first years and become friends with them, it seemed Bokuto had taken a liking to the little orange-haired man. 

Bokuto's relaxed manner calmed him, it wasn’t like they had been doing anything wrong, just a hug, hugs are a normal friend thing. Akaashi bets Bokuto hugs everyone, he seems like that kinda guy. 

The little guy was giggling trying to right his hair after Bokuto had made a mess of it.

“Sorry to disturb you. Hinata just wanted to come by and say hi,” said the dark haired one, face serious. 

“Idiot, Kageyama,” Hinata said, turning to the other boy sticking his tongue out. “We actually came here to try and learn the flash mob dance for tomorrow’s pep rally!” Hinita said, bouncing with enthusiasm. The dark haired guy Hinita had called Kageyama grimaced. Clearly this was the little guy's idea and he had just been dragged along. 

Akaashi sighed, a shockingly big part of O-week was dumb dances. Each faculty would pick a hit song of the year, make up some easy dance to it and teach it to all of their students over the week. Then anytime that particular song came on at events, the corresponding faculty was expected to all run together and do their dance. Leaders that had been part of O-week all four years had it the worst as they were expected to dance to any of their faculties songs from their first year until now. 

On top of all those dances, every year there was a Feds dance as well. All the leaders were expected to know it, and all the students tried to learn it before the final pep rally so that during the halfway point in whatever the game was, the leaders, and any cool in the know students, could run into the court or field and do a big flash mob of the dance. 

Akaashi had tried everything to get out of it, but being one of the heads of O-week he’d not been allowed to go without learning it. So he was absolutely shocked to hear Bokuto saying, “Sorry Chibi-Chan, I actually don’t know it!”

“WHAT!” the words came out of his mouth louder than expected. The other three all looked at him eyes wide. Bokuto looked particularly confused.

“Woah, he can yell,” Bokuto said, a silly smile spreading across his face.

Akaashi glared at him. Until he had heard that Bokuto didn’t know the dance, he had been planning excuses to get out of it. It was sometime after two AM and the responsible thing to do was to send these students to bed, but fuck it, he and Bokuto had to be here until eight AM anyway. 

“If I had to learn this stupid dance, so do you,” he said, eyes locking with Bokuto. Those golden eyes were sparkling like they had just won the lottery. 

Akaashi grimaced and turned to the two students, “Well if I have to teach this idiot,” he jabbed a finger at Bokuto, “then you two may as well stick around and learn it too.” Hinata was practically bouncing up and down, Kageyama was scowling, clearly unimpressed at the turn this had taken. 

“He yelled, and now he’s going to teach us dance. Aren’t you full of surprises tonight!” Bokuto was beaming at him, looking just as excited as Hinata. 

“I’m just doing my damn job. Which apparently you didn’t do, I can’t believe a FOC doesn’t know the Feds dance,” he was shooting daggers at Bokuto, who was just smiling even dumber.

“Sorry, Kaashi,” he said, looking not at all sorry. “Want me to get the song on the speaker?” Akaashi nodded, setting his shoulders in determination.

It wasn’t that Akaashi was a bad dancer, Akaashi just hated people looking at him enough to never bother dancing much. Luckily this year's Feds dance was made to be easy, so leading the three others through it was going surprisingly well. He had a blush on his face at the beginning with the three watching him. He felt silly in front of these three in a crop top, and covered in glitter and paint, but Bokuto and Hinita were having so much fun laughing and flailing around like children that Akaashi eventually relaxed. Kageyama was stiff but Hinita was joking and teasing him, poking and prodding the other boy into relaxing. 

Once his three students were laughing and joking with each other, he found himself smiling as Hinata accidentally elbowed Kageyama for the fifth or sixth time while trying to do jazz hands, leading to the two of them arguing playfully, but loudly, about who had been at fault. 

“Well I wouldn’t have hit you if you weren’t standing so close, dummy Yama!” the ginger snapped. 

Kageyama blushed, “I’m only so close cus I keep having to catch you when you trip over your own feet!” came the retort.

Bokuto and Akaashi made eye contact at that, Bokuto wiggling his eyebrows and Akaashi using a hand to cover his smile. The two first years clearly were into each other, always standing as close as possible, always blushing when they made contact. Every time Hinata fell, Kageyama would catch him and blush before putting him back on his feet and calling him an idiot. Bokuto and Akaashi weren’t saying anything but they kept sharing knowing looks when incidents like this happened.

They were nearing the end of the song and just had to learn the last line. It was now approaching three AM but none of them really cared. 

A few students had given them weird looks as they walked by, and leaders gave them a knowing smile and wave as they headed home. Really, nothing about a two AM dance lesson lit only by street lights and camping lanterns was anything out of the ordinary for O-week. Akaashi was actually pretty sure he wasn’t the only one teaching people, as the occasional announcement from his walkie-talkie had the same song playing in the background. 

“Okay so for the closing line it’s nice and easy. You're just supposed to dance with the person next to you, however you feel comfortable. Be silly, chaotic, whatever, just make sure you aren’t making whoever you are dancing with uncomfortable.” The three of them nodded at that.

“Shall we run it one last time from the top?” Bokuto asked, eyes sparking with a mischief that Akaashi was only a tiny bit concerned about. Hinata was nodding, Kageyama smiled and shrugged.

“Sure, que up the music!” Akaashi said.

He had been leading from in front of the group so they could follow his motions, but as he went to go upfront Bokuto went, “Why don’t you come stand beside me, see how we fare without you in front.” Akaashi shrugged and came to stand beside the grey haired man as the opening lines of the song began. Akaashi briefly thought that once this week was over he’d still be dreaming about that song after how many times he’d heard it in the last two weeks, it would haunt him.

They made it through the song okay. The other three fumbled a few times when they weren’t sure what to do, but considering they had just taken an hour long crash course in the dance it was surprising how much they remembered. 

As the final lines approached, Akaashi threw his hands up in the air and turned to Bokuto to dance with him. To his surprise he was met by Bokuto scooping him up bridal style and spinning him around.

Ah, this must be what the mischievous smile was about. Akaashi was so startled he let out a laugh. His arms went around Bokuto’s neck desperately holding on as he full on giggled. Bokuto’s head was back laughing as they spun. 

It felt pretty nice to be held like this, nestled in the larger man's arms. When you're almost six feet tall not many people could pick you up like it was nothing, as Bokuto was doing now.

Eventually though the spinning got to Bokuto and he stumbled, the two of them falling onto the grass a giggly mess. 

Akaashi was on top of Bokuto, bodies pressed together, between giggles saying, “Are you okay?”

“Pride hurts but the rest of me is fine,” Bokuto said with a groan, his arms snaking around Akaashi’s waist. Bokuto hid his head in the crook of Akaashi’s neck, his breath tickling Akaashi’s neck.

“I think I’ll just hide here forever until everyone forgets my shame,” Bokuto continues, nuzzling his head further into Akaashi’s neck. Akaashi was clearly broken as he let out another giggle at the feeling of Bokuto's nose against his neck. His heart was going pretty fast at the closeness and he was fairly sure he should be extremely embarrassed, but he just felt alive and kinda giddy.

“Uh, you two okay?” piped up Kageyama. 

Ah shit, right, they weren’t alone.

Akaashi pushed off of Bokuto, rolling to lay beside him. Bokuto pouted at the loss of contact. 

“We’re good. Just being silly,” Akaashi said, pushing himself up to a seated position. Bokuto put his arms behind his head, which Akaashi thought maybe should be illegal since it showed off not just this well defined arms, but also the hard expanse of his chest. 

Akaashi blushed, thinking about how those arms felt wrapped around him, and the hard planes of Bo’s chest pressed against his. As if the bastard could read his mind, Bokuto shot him a wink and a wicked grin. 

“Well we best get going!” Hinata said, grabbing Kageyama's hand and pulling him away, “Thanks so much for teaching us the dance Akaashi! Bye, Bokuto!” he said, practically jogging away, pulling kageyama behind him. 

“Idiot what’s the rush!” Kageyama yelled, “Thank you, Akaashi,” he added, turning to run after the shorter man.

“Those two are quite something,” Akasshi said, shaking his head.

“They have been a handful all week. I’m never sure if they are going to tear each other's heads off, or make out.” 

“I can imagine.” 

They stayed like that for a bit, Bokuto lounging on the ground, Akaashi sitting beside him, looking up at the night sky. The street lights and lanterns meant you couldn’t really see much in the way of stars, but Akaashi liked looking up, knowing the stars were there even if he couldn’t see them.

After a bit the ground started to feel cold and Akaashi said, “Okay idiot, let’s get off this cold ground. Neither of us can afford to get sick.” He pushed himself up, dusting the dirt off himself before extending a hand to help Bokuto up. He took it, Bokuto's larger hand warm against Akaashi’s smaller, colder ones. 

Once he was up, he was right in front of Akaashi, just a few inches away. Akaashi’s breath hitched at the closeness, and he looked into Bokuto's eyes. They were pools of gold, a softness in his face that made Akaashi’s heart flutter. 

“You’re cold again,” Bokuto said softly. 

“Crop tops aren’t really meant for overnights,” Akaashi responded. 

“Come on, I have an extra sweater you can wear back in my bag,” Bokuto said, grabbing Akaashi’s hand and pulling him towards the tent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Happy Noises* I'm way too pleased with this...
> 
> Come back for tomorrow when overnight shift shenanigan's continue :)


	6. An Overnight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo!
> 
> Thank you so much for all this love on yesterday's chapter, it really means the world to me <3
> 
> My beta reader says this beginning of this chapter gives her Mirrorball by Taylor Swift vibes, so I guess if you want a music suggestion while reading go check that out. 
> 
> The second part of this chapter gets a bit spicy ;)
> 
> Enjoy <3

Whatever sense of formality Akaashi normally held himself to seemed to go out the window as he let himself be led back into the tent. Maybe it was the late hour, or the lack of sleep, or just how comfortable he felt with this silly man. He found that instead of pulling away from the hand wrapped around his, once in the tent he interlaced their fingers. Bokuto squeezed his hand, clearly okay with this development. 

Bokuto leaned over, grabbed a sweater from his bag and then plopped down on the couch, pulling Akaashi down beside him by their interconnected hands. 

Akaashi found himself laughing, ending up half in Bokuto's lap. Clearly Bokuto had given up on being subtle as well. 

“Your laugh is amazing,” Bokuto sounded a little breathless, “I think tonight’s the first time I’ve ever heard it.” 

Akaashi’s blushed, legs on Bokuto's lap, shoulders pressed together, fingers interlaced between them.

“I think this is the most I’ve laughed in a long time,” Akaashi said with a small smile, looking down at their interlaced hands. 

“Here, put this on,'' Bokuto said, flinging the sweater at Akaashi, “Cover up that damn tummy before I lose all ability to concentrate on anything else,” Bokuto said teasingly. 

“What?!” Akaashi said, stunned, looking down at his ridiculous outfit. “I look like an idiot!” he said, tugging on the hoodie nonetheless. He was a bit chilly and the sweater was warm and large, and smelled like Bokuto. 

They had to rearrange positions to avoid injury while he pulled the sweater on, and ended up with Akaashi sitting beside Bokuto, legs in Bokuto's lap, Bokuto’s arm around his back, Akaashi’s head on his shoulder. It was surprisingly comfy, but Akaashi did regret having to let go of Bokuto's hand. Once they had gotten settled, Akaashi wrapped up in the sweater, Bokuto leaned his head on the top of Akaashi’s. 

“You know you look amazing like that, right?” Bokuto said.

“Like what?” Akaashi ventured. 

“In a crop top, covered in glitter and paint.”

“Oh?”

“I nearly had a heart attack when I saw you. It’s absolutely not fair for one man to look so good.” Akaashi was fairly certain his heart was trying to beat itself out of his chest, and there was no way the other man couldn’t feel the heat of his cheeks against his chest. 

Akaashi did not know how to respond to this so he mumbled, “Have you seen yourself?” as he buried his face into Bokuto's shoulder. 

They stayed like that for a while, limbs entwined. Akaashi was comfortable, he was warm and safe and in the arms of this man who had gone so out of his way all week to try and help him.

It was sometime past four AM. No one had walked by in ages; the world was quiet and it felt like they were in some timeless other dimension, just the two of them. Illuminated by Christmas lights, snuggled close together.

“I’m going to fall asleep if we stay like this for too long,” Akaashi finally mumbled.

Bokuto’s voice being soft and gravely in response was not something Akaashi expected, so contrary to his normal loud ways. “That’s okay. You can sleep if you want. I’ll wake you up if anything exciting happens.” 

“Mmmh wake me up in thirty minutes okay? Just need a little nap.” Bokuto chuckled and Akaashi loved the feel of it against his chest.

“Sure thing, Kaashi,” he whispered, and with that Akaashi let sleep pull him away.

Bokuto however, was extremely awake. Every nerve in his body was alive and tingling with energy. Akaashi was asleep in his arms, breathing softly against his chest. 

Bokuto was fairly certain this was all a magical dream, and if it was he wished he would never wake up. First Akaashi showed up in a crop top, then the bastard had the nerve to teach him a dance while looking that good. Ugh, Bokuto was using so much effort from the moment he saw Akaashi to not scoop him up and whisk him away somewhere private to kiss the dark-haired man senseless. The few interrupted moments of contact they did have only made it worse. The sight of Akaashi in his arms laughing so freely as he spun them around would be imprinted in his brain forever. 

God, just the sound of his laugh had melted Bokuto's heart. He hadn’t known Akaashi that long, but from the interactions he had with him he realized quite quickly how reserved the other man was. Seeing him smile and laugh so freely tonight, with him, made Bokuto a level of happy he wasn’t sure he’d ever been. He would do anything to be able to keep seeing his smile. 

Now here he was with this gorgeous man in his sweater, still covered in glitter, asleep on his chest. Whatever he had done to end up here, he was thankful for it. Bokuto felt like he had just won a volleyball game, having scored the final point with an immaculate spike. That’s the only other time he’d felt this alive and that made his brain all fuzzy. How did this man have such power over him? He didn’t care, he just wanted to enjoy the feeling of holding him.

Eventually his heart beat calmed down, his breath matching the sleeping man’s. He drifted off a few times just for little snippets. It wasn’t really a big deal, the idea was just to have bodies in the tent in case they were needed, and they could easily be woken up by passersby.

Around six AM Akaashi began to stir in Bokuto's arms, eyelids fluttering open. The sight took Bokuto's breath away; Akaashi’s eyes sparkling, lids heavy with sleep. He looked confused for a moment, unsure where he was, but then he looked up meeting Bokuto's eyes and a small smile lit up his face. Bokuto could have died happy at the sight. He pulled the man tighter against his chest.

“You didn’t wake me,” Akaashi mumbled, voice thick with sleep. 

“You didn’t miss anything,” he murmured back. 

“You’re squishing me Bo,” Akaashi protested. 

“Oh! Oh oops! You're just so damn cute.” Bokuto loosened his arms so that he wasn’t crushing Akaashi into him anymore. 

To his dismay Akaashi wiggled off of him to a seated position beside him. The dark haired man stretched, and ruffled his hair away from his face while yawning. Little flecks of glitter fell off his hair as he did so. Whatever sadness Bokuto was feeling about the loss of contact he pushed away, just enjoying the sight of Akaashi in the morning.

Bokuto must have still had a little pout on his face though, because Akaashi turned to him and his brow furrowed in thought. He then reached over and intertwined their hands. Bokutos face lit up with the renewed contact and Akaashi smiled back, clearly pleased with himself.

“Did you get any sleep?” he asked, reaching over and pushing some flyaway strands of Bokuto's hair out of his face.

“I caught some sleep, yeah. But I look forward to crashing in a bed the moment I get home.”

“Ugh, same. Not that your shoulder isn’t very comfortable, but I think I’m getting too old for my neck to like sleeping in such funny positions.”

“I’ll give you a massage,” Bokuto said, his smile nearly splitting his face. 

Akaashi pushed his head gently “You’re ridiculous.” 

“And you like it.” 

To Bokuto's joy and bewilderment Akaashi made a small noise of agreement. Then added “It's definitely not the worst thing."

Bokuto felt like he was on top of the world. “You like me!” he practically yelled, crossing his legs to turn and face Akaashi in the small space of the couch. Akaashi was clearly trying to hold back laughter at the sight of the man who looked like a kid on Christmas morning. 

Akaashi squeezed their connected hands and just nodded. Bokuto was practically wiggling in his seat with joy. This beautiful creature in front of him had just confirmed he liked him.

Bokuto didn’t really know what to do with himself, he was so happy. Of course he had suspected, he figured Akaashi didn’t seem like the person to go falling asleep in the arms of just anyone, but the confirmation had his heart soaring.

Akaashi placed his hand on Bokuto's cheek, and Bokuto leaned into it, closing his eyes. Then Bokuto's brain realized something-

Wait you know I like you too right!” he said, eyes going wide, grabbing the hand on his face, “Like super a lot. You're pretty and nice, and funny, and don’t seem to mind my antics, and have I mentioned how pretty you are? Actually can I upgrade that to gorgeous, cus you-” Bokuto was cut off by Akaashi leaning in and pressing a soft, sweet kiss to his cheek. 

“Bokuto it’s too early for you to be so loud and excited.” 

Bokuto clamped his mouth shut. 

“But thank you for telling me. It’s lovely to hear,” Akaashi added with a genuine smile and soft blush. 

They stayed like that for a moment, Bokuto's cheek tingling where Akaashi’s lips had touched it.

The sun was slowly starting to rise, painting the sky with reds and pinks, lighting the tent with soft morning light. Neither of the boys in the tent bothered to look, both mesmerized with how the light played on each other's faces, reflected in golden and ocean eyes.

“Yah know, a good way to ensure I stay quiet is by keeping my mouth busy,” Bokuto said, trying to be suave. His eyes kept flicking to Akaashi’s soft mouth and back up to his eyes.

Akaashi raised an eyebrow clearly unimpressed, “Try that again without that bravado.”

“Can I kiss you, Akaashi?” Bokuto’s face was aflame. 

Akaashi didn’t respond, he just leaned forward and kissed Bokuto, whose brain instantly went blank with surprise. 

He froze, Akaashi’s lips against his, and Akaashi began to pull away, clearly a bit concerned. Bokutos brain rebooted and he pulled the other man back towards him by the front of his hoodie. 

He kissed him eagerly, urgently, with a desire to communicate things his dumb brain wasn’t able to. Akaashi seemed to understand the unspoken words and was responding in kind. His soft lips told Bokuto that he felt safe and desired and wanted to be here. 

Their hands were on each other, one of Akaashi’s was in his hair the other on his jawline. Bokuto still had a fist full of the front of Akaashi’s sweater, his other on his waist trying to get them as close as possible. 

They pulled apart panting for breath. “Shit,” Akaashi breathed, his chest heaving. 

“Agreed,” said Bokuto, leaning his forehead against Akaashi’s. Bokuto had kissed a good number of people in his life none of them had been quite like that. 

Bokuto leaned forward kissing Akaashi again, this time slow, soft, easy. When they pulled apart this time Akaashi maneuvered himself into Bokuto's lap, wrapping his legs around his waist. 

“If you do that, things may get a little too spicy for an open tent,” Bokuto breathed. 

“Oh I can not-” Akaashi started, but was cut off by Bokuto pulling him into his chest. 

“Don’t you dare.”

Akaashi laughed, his arms going around Bokutos neck 

“Just don’t wiggle around too much,” Akaashi laughed in response.

“It’s too early for funny business. Hit me up sometime when I've slept more than a collective eight hours in two days.”

“Hey speaking of that. When O-week’s done and we’ve both recovered, I’d like to take you on a proper date,” Bokuto ventured, figuring why not swing for the fences at this point. 

“You're telling me that sleeping on someone during an overnight isn’t a date?” Akaashi teased.

“I think you may have been dating wrong,” Bokuto countered, pressing a kiss to Akaashi’s forehead. 

“I’d like a real date, where I’m not fighting the urge to fall asleep on you constantly, or covered in glitter,” Akaashi finally said. 

Bokuto drunk on the closeness of Akaashi, and lack of sleep said, “I’d like to actually keep both those things please, but maybe add a bed and subtract clothing.”

Bokuto was fairly sure Akaashi’s face went beet red as he could feel the heat of it against his chest and he could not make out the mumbled reply. 

Akaashi pulled away from him, looked him directly in the eyes and said in a deadly serious voice, “Only if you wear just the FOC vest,” then he laughed, “I think maybe we are a bit punch drunk from lack of sleep.” 

“No shit.”

Akaashi leaned in and kissed him. Bokuto wasn’t sure he would ever get used to the rush that went through him when their mouths met. This kiss started soft, their mouths moving together slowly, their breathing in time with each other, but Bokuto wanted more. He deepened the kiss, hands going under Akaashi’s sweater to find skin. Akaashi’s hands were in his hair tightening into fists. 

At the feel of Bokuto's hands on his back, Akaashi sighed and tugged on bokuto's bottom lip with his teeth and Bokuto let out what could only be called a growl. He parted their lips, kissing down Akaashi’s jaw and to the pale soft skin of his neck. Here he licked and sucked lightly leaving little red marks, until he reached the base of his neck where he really went to work. Akaashi let out a moan, his hands clenching in Bokuto's hair as the grey-haired man licked and sucked along his collar bone.  
“Bo- Fuck,” Akaashi said, and yanked him back up to smash their mouth together. Akaashi’s mouth met his with a hunger and need that caught him off guard for a second, but soon he was kissing back just as desperately. 

His tongue skimmed across Akaashi’s lips and Akaashi sighed and parted them. Bokuto’s tongue slipped into his mouth exploring the new territory. Everything about having Akaashi this close felt right, he smelt like lavender and sage, he felt soft but firm under him.

Bokuto’s phone started ringing. 

They pulled apart, Akaashi leaning off of Bokuto to reach for the phone and handing it to him before settling back into his lap leaning into his chest. 

The call was from Kuroo. 

“Hey, hey, hey!” Bokuto answered, Akaashi cringed at the volume.

“Bro, you haven’t answered any of my texts, are you alive??”

“Oh, sorry dude. Kaashi and I have just been... Uh hanging out.” 

“You sound a mess dude.” 

“Look man, it’s what, 7:30 and we’ve been on shift since midnight. I sound a mess cus I am a mess.” He nuzzled his face into Akaashi’s dark hair for a moment, listening to Kuroos reply. 

“Dude, game’s at four PM, you think you’ll be okay by then?” 

“Oh yeah, I’ll be fine. Next shift should get here any minute and then my plan for the day is sleep.” 

“Good. Coach will kill you if you are late, so make sure to set an alarm.”

“Who are you, my dad?” 

Kuroo chuckled, “May as well be with how I have to take care of your sorry ass.” 

“Was there a point to this call other than to nag me?” 

“Just wanted to make sure you were awake and or decent before the next shift showed up.” 

Bokutos face went bright red at that, “You're an ass.”

“Ah, but you didn’t say I was wrong.” 

“Thanks for the call. I’ll see you later, bro.”

“You better tell me all about it, bro.” 

With that, Bokuto hung up. Akaashi’s breathing had gone quiet and even. 

“Kaashi, Baby, you awake?” Bokuto whispered. 

“Mmmmmmmmmh,” was all Akaashi mumbled. 

“Next shift could be here any moment, they probably shouldn’t find us like this.” 

Akaashi flat out whined at that and Bokuto chuckled, surprised by the other man's unwillingness to move. 

“Sorry, Baby,” he said, nuzzling into Akaashi’s hair one last time before using absolutely all of his will power to try to push Akaashi off him. Akaashi made another whining noise and clung to the front of his shirt.

“God your uncooperative.” 

“Mornings are not my strong suit,” the dark haired man pouted. Akaashi pouting in the sweater Bokuto gave him, hickey visible just peeking out above the collar was a sight that took Bokuto's breath away.  
He planted a kiss on the smaller man's nose, then took him by the waist and placed him on the couch beside him.

“That’s dumb, your dumb,” Akaashi said, now full on pouting. Grumpy, whiney morning Akaashi was not something he would have expected from the generally quiet man, but he found it pretty fucking adorable. 

“I’m still here, see,” Bokuto said, taking Akaashi’s hand in his. 

“Fine,” Akaashi grumbled, leaning his head on Bokuto's shoulder. 

“God I have a fucking shift later today. I’m going to die,” Akaashi said.

“If you live, I’ll give you more kisses.” 

“Okay. Guess I’ll live then.” 

Bokuto could not contain his grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me Writing this scene: OMG THEY KISSED!! I CANT BELIEVE THEY FINALLY KISSED!!  
> Also Me: *Literally the person making them kiss* 
> 
> XD


	7. A Volleyball Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Hey, Hey!
> 
> It's the mandatory Volleyball game, Chapter!
> 
> Swoosh, bam, sport XD 
> 
> Also maybe a cameo from some more familiar faces ;)

Eventually, Akaashi made it home. He flopped into his bed still fully dressed, and passed out immediately. 

He woke up to his phone ringing, “Ughhhh,” is how he answered. 

“Well, hello to you too,” Suga laughed. 

“Hhhhhhhhh,” was all Akaashi managed in response. 

“I saw your texts about filling in for an overnight, so I figured you might need a wake up call before your shift.”

“Ugh, shit. Thank you. What time is it?” Akaashi’s voice was scratchy with sleep.

“Just after three. Plenty of time to shove some food in your mouth and get to campus by 3:30.” 

Akaashi swore violently. “Thirty minutes! I need to shower or something! I’m a mess.” 

“Sorry Akaashi, I figured you would want to sleep as much as possible.” 

“Nono. You were right, it’s fine. I guess I’ll just splash some water on my face and pray I don’t stink.” 

“You're working at a gym, I don’t think anyone’s gonna care.”

“I’m going to care. I’m still covered in glitter and paint from last night.”

“Slap on some black and gold and call yourself a cheerleader then,” was Suga’s suggestion. “Now get your ass out of bed and make some coffee.”

Thirty minutes later he was at the gym. He had not even tried to put himself together fully, instead opting for the bare minimum. He had changed into fresh clothes, chugged a coffee, shoved some food in his mouth and brushed his teeth before sprinting out of the apartment. 

His hair still stuck up in every direction, glitter and face paint still clung to his cheeks. Instead of real clothes he had hastily pulled Bokuto's hoodie on after a) realizing he needed to hide hickeys, and b) realizing it was a volleyball hoodie for the university team, which happened to be the exact event he was going to work.

Today was the school spirit day of O-week, and campus was absolutely alive. It was one of the only days where non-leader upper years would get involved, coming out to support teams and partake in pep rallies. Everyone and everything was coloured in black and gold; the schools colours.

As he made his way to the gym he saw banners for the various teams playing and people handing out noise makers. Akaashi hadn’t been involved in sports at all during his undergrad, but he had played volleyball in high school and was kinda glad to get an excuse to watch the school team. He had been told that they were actually shockingly good.

When he arrived he reported to Tsukki to find out what his job was. 

Tsukki looked him up and down and said, “You look like you spend the entire night getting railed by a glitter monster.” Ah, typical Tsukki.

“I had an overnight shift in one of the 24 hour stations.” 

Tsukki raised his eyebrows, “So you did get railed for an entire night.”

“Shut up Tsukki, and tell me what I’m doing.”

“Well since you're in a volleyball hoodie, why don’t you go be on crowd control. Make sure everyone gets settled before the game. Once the game starts you can just sit and enjoy.” Akaashi nodded and headed into the gym. 

Tsukki has just kindly handed him a get out of jail free card. No one really needed help getting settled in a gym with bleachers, so Akaashi would be free to just wander around and then sit.

When he entered the gym he heard the familiar squeak of shoes and smack of balls as the two teams warmed up. He didn’t pay the team much mind instead scanning the crowd. 

“AKAASHI! Over here!” came a call from the stands. Hinata's bright orange hair alerted Akaashi to who was calling him. 

He smiled and waved back to Hinata. 

Hinata was sitting beside Kageyama and some other first years, frantically waving Akaashi over. Akaashi decided it would be fun to watch the game with the younger men. Plus, part of the whole point of O-week and this day in particular was giving the upper years a chance to mingle with the first years. 

As he started to head towards them he heard a familiar voice yell, “HEY, HEY, HEY! WHO'S READY TO KICK ASS!” 

Akaashi turned towards the court and suddenly several rather obvious clues clicked into place, including why Bokuto owned a volleyball team hoodie and hadn’t known the half time dance. Of course you didn't need to know the halftime dance if you would be on the court the rest of the time.

There Bokuto was, white hair and all, standing on the court with the rest of the team getting read to play. He was slapping his team mates backs, smiling, laughing, waving to the crowd. He looked taller, his muscular legs on display through his shorts, his broad shoulders framed by his jersey. Akaashi was breathless, he thought seeing Bokuto with the first years had been impressive, Bokuto in a volleyball uniform warming up with his teammates was a whole other level. 

Oh god, he wasn’t even playing yet. Akaashi was so fucked.

“AKAASHI!” Hinata yelled again, clearly thinking the other man had lost sight of them. 

At that Bokuto turned, and made eye contact with Akaashi.

His hair was a little less sculpted, his eyes a little tired, signs he too was feeling their overnight shift, but that didn’t stop him from beaming and yelling, “AKAASAAASHIIIIIII!” while waving like an idiot.

Akaashi went beet red, people were following the gaze of the man on the court and their eyes were landing on a very not put together Akaashi. Despite that, he waved back, letting a smile smile fall onto his lips at the genuine excitement the other man was showing.

One of Bokuto's team mates smacked him on the head, “Stop being so loud, idiot, go say hi and then get your ass back here and focus!” 

Bokuto seemed unfazed by the scolding, his smile not wavering an inch, his eyes not leaving Akaashi’s as he nodded, “yessir!.”

“You’re literally the vice-captain,” Kuroo, sounding exasperated, shouted from somewhere on the court.

Bokuto half walked, half jogged over to where Akaashi was on the sidelines. 

Akaashi’s heart was going wild, his body tense, last night had been magical but also largely fueled by sleep deprivation and that weird other worldness that happens after two AM. Not that he himself regretted anything that happened, but what if Bokuto did? What if Bokuto was weirded out by him standing here in his sweater about to watch him play, what if Bokuto had only asked him out because he was caught up in the moment, what if he regretted it now?

But then Bokuto was there, and Bokuto was wrapping his arms around Akaashi and pulling him into his chest, and placing a soft kiss on his cheek. Akaashi’s worries melted into the ground, the tension going out of his body as he wrapped his arms around Bokuto’s neck. 

“Good morning sleepy, you look like you just rolled out of bed,” Bokuto said into his ear before planting another kiss on the side of his head.

Akaashi chuckled, “That's cus I did. Someone kept me up pretty late.” 

Bokuto squeezed him into his chest, “I’m not even a little sorry about that,” he breathed into his ear. Then pulled away from him, hands not leaving Akaashi’s hips, but just pulling them apart enough so they could see each other’s faces. 

Akaashi was happy to realize that Bokuto had flecks of glitter still on him that he had picked up from their close contact last night. 

“I kinda feel like an idiot, I had no idea you were on the volleyball team,” Akaashi said, tracing a finger over the flecks of glitter on Bokuto's face, pretending to try to remove them as an excuse to touch Bokuto's face.

Bokuto feigned horror, his hand clutching his heart, his voice loud and dramatic, “You mean you aren’t here solely to see the magnificent spectacle that is me!” A few people shot them a glance.

“Shush. You should just be happy I’m posted here and not at some other game,” Akaashi said, shooting Bokuto a glare that didn’t really hold any weight as he was clearly fighting a smile.

“I am,” Bokuto responded completely sincerely, his eyes blazing, “I’m so glad you’re here, and you're wearing my sweater and, god you look adorable,” Bokuto continued, leaning their foreheads together. 

“I’m excited to see you play,” Akaashi said, just as sincerely. 

“Don’t you take your eyes off me, Kasshi!” Bokuto said, eyes flashing starting to pull away, “I should probably get back!”

Akaashi caught his arm as he went to go, “Wait.” Bokuto looked a bit stunned. 

“Good luck kiss,” Akaashi managed to get out, the intensity of Bokuto's golden eyes leaving his brain a bit jumbled. Bokuto looked like Akaashi had just said the magic words. 

He was back to him in an instant, mouth on his for a hot and heavy second. 

“I promise I’ve only got eyes for you,” Akaashi whispered to Bokuto as they parted.

Bokuto practically skipped back to his team at that, and Akaashi smiled after this idiot that somehow he was lucky enough to be dating.

He stared after Bokuto for a second and then turned to go up and join Hinata and Kageyama. 

Hinata had a shit eating grin on this face, “Seee I told you! You owe me ten bucks!” he said, pulling on Kageyama's sleeve as the two scooted over to make space for Akaashi to sit beside them. 

Akaashi raised his eyebrows at this, questioning what exactly the bet was. 

“Idiot-yama, over here didn’t think you guys were anything more than friends. So I bet him ten bucks you two were dating or something, and well that interaction just proved me right.” Akaashi nodded a slight blush creeping up on his face.

“We are indeed dating or something,” Akaashi confirmed as Hinata's eyes bore into him. Hinata smiled at this confirmation. 

All Akaashi could think about was how poor Hinata was in for a long road, because if Kageyama couldn’t pick up what was going on between Bokuto and Akaashi the other night, it was rather likely the taller man was clueless to the shorter ones rather obvious flirting.

Hinata began introducing him to the other people they were sitting with, an odd collection of other Rec and Leisure students, and other people Hinata had collected from his dorm or campus events. 

It seemed after his initial panic attack at being at university, Hinata was settling in quite nicely. Not exactly an uncommon thing. Even the most extroverted, people loving person could be overwhelmed when thrown into the first week of university. Akaashi’s heart swelled that he had played even a small part in Hinata’s settling in; that was the whole point of this crazy week. 

Hinata was now busy pointing at players from both teams telling Akaashi about them, what their strengths were, what to watch out for during the match. Kageyama would occasionally add things he felt Hinata missed. The two were clearly very passionate about volleyball and Akaashi learned that they both intended to try out for the university team. Some of the information they said they had gotten over the week from Bokuto, who was more than happy to talk volleyball. 

Akaashi was feeling rather lucky he had enough volleyball knowledge to keep up. He kept up with and enjoyed the conversation quite a bit, most of his friends would never care to hear about how the wing spiker from the other team was left handed or that the setter tended to throw to the back row when he felt trapped. But Akaashi was honestly living for the conversation, feeling a bit like he was back in high school with his teammates talking shop before a game.

Hinata and Kageyama had fallen into a heated debate about the pros and cons of read blocking when their attention was pulled to the court where the whistled signaled the game was beginning. 

From the moment the game began Akaashi’s eyes were on Bokuto. To be honest he didn’t really have a choice, that man demanded attention, demanded every eye on him as if he was shouting, “Watch me, don’t you see how good I am?” and oh god was he good. 

The first spike Bokuto landed was a beautiful cross shot, absolutely blowing away the opposing blockers. He looked like some kind of god in the air, white hair sticking up like he’d been stuck by lighting. No, he was the lighting, Akaashi thought, his heart hammering. 

As Bokuto landed he screamed in triumph with his team, pointed to Akaashi in the stands and yelled, “DID YOU SEE THAT!” Akaashi’s entire face went red but he was cheering and nodding, and oh god that was his idiot, and he was so proud of him.

The game went by quickly. The other team clearly was not able to keep up. The home team took it in straight sets, the crowd eating it up, going absolutely wild at every spike, block and serve. And through the whole thing Akaashi’s eyes were on Bokuto. Drinking in every movement, every spike, every serve he made. The man was incredible. 

What Akaashi really loved though, was watching the moments in between plays when Bokuto would congratulate his teammates who made great plays, and pat people on the back for missed serves and receives. Everyone he interacted with got caught up in Bokuto's energy, his entire team glowed a little brighter when they interacted with him, hell Akaashi thought the other team glowed a little brighter just playing on the same court as him. He was an absolute star, not just during plays but always, and Akaashi couldn’t be prouder to watch it. 

As the whistle blew to signal the end of the game, Akaashi found himself pushing his way down from the stands. He didn’t care that people were shooting him dirty looks as he pushed past, a force that he was not in control of was pulling him to Bokuto. 

He reached the bottom of the bleachers to find Bokuto had been pulled by the same force. 

They met at the edge of the court, Akaashi practically flinging himself into Bokuto, his arms going around the taller man's neck. Bokuto caught him, arms going around his waist, lifting him off his feet and spinning him. 

They both had big dumb grins on their faces, and before Akaashi had the chance to say anything or take in what a scene they were causing, Bokuto was kissing him. He tasted like sweat and his mouth was needy against Akaashi’s, and it was perfect. They pulled apart looking up into each other’s eyes.

“Did you see me, Akaashi!” 

“Of course I did. I couldn’t take my eyes off you.” Bokuto beamed at that. 

“Really?” Bokuto asked with a hesitancy that surprised Akaashi. 

“You were amazing, Bo. I can’t wait to see more of your games,” he answered, trying to put as much sincerity into his voice as possible. Bokuto gave him a dazzling smile before pulling him against his chest and nestling his face in Akaashi’s hair. Akaashi nuzzled his nose into Bokuto's neck, planting little kisses along it. 

Bokuto chuckled, “Cut that out or else I’ll throw you over my shoulder,” Bokuto growled at him. 

“I know you think that’s a threat, but that’s not a threat,” Akaashi chuckled.

“What are you doing after this?” Bokuto asked, eyes dancing.

“I’m on clean up and then I trade off with Suga at the help desk for the rest of the night,” Akaashi replied with a frown, reality coming to ruin the moment.

Bokuto pouted for a second then said, “Do you think I can steal you for a bit to introduce you to the team, at least?” 

Akaashi started to panic a little bit, that was a lot of people, and what if they didn’t like him? They were Bokuto's team and they must be important to him. Akaashi must have let some of the panic show on his face.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to! But I promise I’ll be with you and none of them bite... except maybe Kuroo... and Miya… and well Noya is fucking feral... So, maybe several of them bite but I promise they will be on their best behaviour!”

Akashi let out a breath, took a step back from Bokuto, straightened his back and nodded, “I think I can spare a moment.” 

Bokuto smiled, taking Akaashi’s hand. 

“Yay! Let’s go meet the idiots! They have been asking about you all game. Which I guess is my own fault, but you looked so cute all sleepy in my sweater that I couldn’t not come say hi,” Bokuto chattered away, and Akaashi found himself relaxing a bit. He was in O-week mode, new people shouldn’t faze him and these weren’t complete strangers, they were important people to Bokuto. He could do this.

They walked over to where the team was chatting and joking after the game by the bench. 

Bokuto led him over to a group of guys, one was the other FOC, Kuroo, that Akaashi had already met. His black hair was still sticking up in every direction and his eyes mischievous, he seemed to Akaashi rather similar to a cat about to pounce so Akaashi wasn’t exactly surprised when he said, “I see you enjoyed your overnight,” using his nose to point towards the hickies just poking out above Akaashi’s hoodie. 

“Oi, don’t be an ass,” quipped the blonde one, smacking Kuroo.

“I did have fun,” was Akaashi’s serious reply. Kuroo looked a little taken aback. 

“Bro, this man supposedly keeps up with Bokuto so it’s kinda stupid to think you could fluster him that easily,” said the short on one. 

“Do you all go to the same barber, or like stick your fingers in electrical sockets every morning?” Akaashi found himself saying, looking between Bokuto, Kuroo and the short guy whose hair stood up at funny angles. He wasn't going to let Kuroo get away with throwing sass without returning it.

The guys all blinked at him dumbfounded. Akaashi kept his face as blank as he could, turning to Bokuto, “Seriously what the fuck? He’s the only dude with normal hair here and still it’s piss yellow.'' At this he let a small smile tug at the corner of his lips. 

The three guys made eye contact with each other clearly not sure what to make of this. Bokuto on the other hand doubled over in laughter, “You should see your idiot faces! Perfection.” At this the other guys broke into smiles. 

The short guy cackled “You’re going to be fun,” he said wiggling his eyebrows.

The blonde guy cut in, “I’m Miya Atsuma, by the way. And my hair is bleach blonde, thank you very much. But do you really think it needs some more toner?”

Bokuto had gained his composure enough to say, “Don’t answer that or else he’ll trap you into helping him do his hair next time.” Then pointing to the others, “You’ve already met Kuroo, and this final guy is Noya.''

Akaashi nodded to them all, “It is nice to meet you.”

“Glad you were able to come out, I’m surprised you don’t have a shift,” Kuroo responded. 

“Actually it’s just a happy coincidence. This is my shift. Bokuto failed to mention he was vice captain of the volleyball team.”

“You are literally wearing his volleyball team hoodie,” Miya pointed out.

“Also, maybe I’m a bit dense,” Akaashi shrugged. 

“Wait, I wanna go back to the part where Bokuto hasn’t mentioned he plays volleyball to you,” Kuroo interjected.

“Yeah, who knew Bokuto was capable of carrying a conversation that isn’t about volleyball,” Noya teased.

Akaashi glanced at Bokuto who looked a bit sheepish. Why hadn’t he mentioned it if volleyball was such a big part of his life? 

“Wait do you even know anything about volleyball? Do you even like volleyball?!?” Miya cut in, eyes wide at Akaashi.

“I do,” he responded, answering both questions at once. “I actually used to play, but not since high school. Though I do follow the Olympic teams now.” 

Four pairs of eyes lit up boring into his head, a flurry of questions were shot at him. 

“What positions did you play?” 

“Were you any good?”

“What team is your favourite?”

“Why did you stop playing?”

Akaashi took a moment to process, collected himself and fired off answers like it was a test. “I was a setter, my teammates never complained, I’m partial to Japan but Argentina has been quite good lately, and I stopped because I needed to focus on my grades.” 

The boys all exploded at that, responding at once. 

He did catch Bokuto yelling, “I BET HE'S A BETTER SETTER THEN YOU TSUMA!” 

"HE BETTER FUCKING NOT BE!” Chaos ensued, all of the men speaking at once.

Akaashi found himself inadvertently stepping closer to Bokuto where it was safe. Bokuto wrapped an arm around him and pulled him into his side, looking down smiling at him. Akaashi smiled back, glad Bokuto's friends seemed to like him. 

“Oi AKAASHI. STOP FLIRTING WITH THE ENTIRE VOLLEYBALL TEAM AND HELP CLEAN UP!” Tsukki yelled. That quieted the men. 

Akaashi swore, he was indeed ignoring why he was here.

“I should go. I’ll see you all around.” 

Bokuto pouted, “Can I kick that guys ass?” 

“No. He was very kind for letting me basically just sit and watch the match. I should go help.” Akaashi kissed Bokuto's cheek.

“Don’t pout. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow is so long from nooooow.” 

"Dude stop being gross,” Miya cut in.

“Come on, let's go get some food and leave the man to work,” Kuroo said, starting to pull Bokuto away. 

They said their farewells and Akaashi ran off hoping Tsukki wasn’t actually that mad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SPORTS!
> 
> Tomorrow, men in suits :3


	8. A Formal Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooooo,
> 
> Welcome to formal night! 
> 
> Hot tip, if you start Boats and Birds by Gregory and the Hawk at the same time as Akaashi, and happen to have a similar reading speed to me, it should be line up nicely (I swear, I tried, it's hardddd). Either way you should listen to the song to get into the moment.
> 
> Thank you again to everyone commenting and leaving kudos, it makes me so happy! and thanks to everyone reading silently too, I'm glad you are here :)
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

“Bokuto, stop looking for Akaashi and pay attention to your job, the line is backing up!” Kuroo yelled at him. 

“But what if I miss him going by!” Bokuto whined, “I bet he looks so damn good all dressed up!” 

Kuroo just shook his head, “The entire night is formal night, bro. He’s not going to escape without you seeming him at some point.” 

Kuroo was right and Bokuto went back to manning the food line he was supposed to be keeping an eye on. He did let his eyes wander through the crowd however, looking for a certain green eyed cutie just in case he happened to pass by. 

Tonight was the last night of O-week and it was going out with a bang. The theme was “The Great Gatsby” or maybe “the roaring 20s” or “old timey good time”, Bokuto hadn’t paid much attention other than that it was the formal night and that meant he needed to get dressed up fancy. 

He and Kuroo had decided that as FOCs and fourth years they needed to go out in style. They had chosen to go in matching dark grey pinstripe suits. They were trying to go kinda mob boss style so they had vests, fedoras, suspenders, black ties, the whole nine yards. Getting out of their apartment had been kind of a nightmare since they both kept tipping their hats and saying “m’lady” to each other.

Bokuto knew he looked good, the dark grey suit had been tailored to fit his muscular body, showing off his biceps and waist. The colour of the suit made his eyes pop, and his skin look more tanned. His hair had even cooperated today letting him wear it slicked back instead of straight up like normal (he and Kuroo had realized hats wouldn’t work with their normal hairstyles). He looked cool, and maybe a bit more like a Bond villain than anticipated with his hair almost matching his suit, but still, even now as he directed the line of first years he got looks and random compliments from people. 

He didn’t really care about those, all he cared about was Akaashi, and what Akaashi thought. He really hoped he liked it, and Bokuto could not wait to see Akaashi dressed up, he was practically bouncing with anticipation, fidgeting with his cuffs and hat to release some of the nervous energy.

But Akaashi was on desk duty for the first half of the night, and wouldn’t be free to see Bokuto for another two hours at least, so Bokuto was trying very hard to be patient. He really couldn’t help his eyes from wandering the crowd though in hopes of getting even a glance of the other man. So far no luck. 

This time when he glanced around he did notice a familiar ginger looking kind of dejected, off by himself in the corner.

The fact that Hinata was alone is what struck Bokuto the most. Since he had introduced them, Bokuto hadn't seen Kageyama and Hinata apart, the two of them had been glued at the hip all week. 

He waved over some random leader, gave them his job and then walked over to see what was wrong with the smaller man.

“Hey Chibi-chan, why the sad face?” Bokuto said, ruffling the ginger's hair. Leaning against the wall beside him. 

Hinata looked up at him, brown eyes lined with concern. “It’s, nothing. Everything’s fine,” he said, sounding oddly exasperated. 

Bokuto chuckled, “Oh, sure, sure. Absolutely fine. Where’s your other half then, and why do you look like you might cry?”

Hinata lost it at this, throwing his hands up and exclaiming, “He’s not my other half! He’s just some idiot that I met this week who can’t take a damn hint!” 

Ahhh, Bokuto had been right something was up between the two younger men. 

“I have some suspicions about what’s going on here but why don’t you fill me in and I’ll see if I can help.” 

Hinata sighed, putting his head in his hands, “I keep trying to ask Kageyama out, and he keeps saying yes but then being absolutely oblivious to it being a date,” Hinata explained. “I figured tonight was a great night to try and make a bolder move cus yah know fancy night,” Hinata gestured to his outfit. He was in a black suit, with a white shirt, he would be giving off Men in Black vibes if it wasn’t for the shock of orange hair on the top of his head. The man looked good and clearly had put in quite the effort to do so.

Bokuto nodded. “Didn’t go as planned, though?” Bokuto prompted. 

“Noooo!” Hinata whined, “I showed up at the fucker’s door with flowers. FLOWERS! Cus what says ‘date’ more than flowers?”

Bokuto nodded, he couldn’t deny that logic. 

“But when Kageyama opened the door he just called me an idiot cus he didn’t have a vase to put them in!” 

Bokuto grimaced, “Yikes, dude that’s rough.” 

“It gets worse!” 

Bokuto's eyebrows flew up, “Worse?!”

“Yeah! So the whole flower thing really threw my game and things have been kinda awkward and tense since. But we made it here and I was hoping we could salvage the night by dancing or doing something fun together, but the minute he was able to Kageyama made up some excuse and ran off! He just left me here!” 

Bokuto was genuinely startled by that. From all the interactions he had seen between the two, despite Kageyama seeming oblivious to the shorter man's advances, he did seem to reciprocate the feelings, always blushing when they bumped into each other, and stealing fond glances at Hinata when he thought no one was looking. 

“I gotta admit that has me surprised,'' Bokuto said, running his hand through his hair. “I think you probably need to talk to him. Very straightforward. We both know his brain is actually a volleyball,” Bokuto finally said, getting a small laugh from Hinata. “My guess is he has feelings for you, but since he has no sense for anything but volleyball he’s clueless to your advances, and maybe even a bit freaked out. You’re going to have to find a way to get it through that thick head of his that you like him.” 

“You think he likes me?” there was hope in Hinata's voice.

“I’ve been watching you two eye fuck each other all week. Seriously, you could cut the tension with a knife, and it definitely didn’t seem one sided from where I was standing. Akaashi saw it too, and Akaashi is very smart.” 

Hinata sighed, “I actually got to see him play volleyball the other day. We skipped the toga party and went to one of the practice courts.” Hinata looked starry eyed thinking about it, “He’s amazing,” he breathed locking eyes with Bokuto, who grinned. “His sets are perfect, spiking his sets felt like we had been doing it for years instead of for the first time that night.” 

“You should go find your setter, Chibi-chan.” 

Hinata set his shoulders, a grim look of determination on his face. “Yeah. Yeah! Okay! I can do this!”

“You can do this!” The men high-fived, smiling big. 

As Hinata was about to go off to find Kageyama he turned back to Bokuto and said, “Oh, I saw Akaashi earlier. He was breaking up a fight but damn, that man shouldn’t be allowed in a suit.” He winked and rushed off.

With that Bokuto decided he couldn’t wait any longer. It was going to be another two hours until Akasshi was off, and fuck if he was going to wait that long to see him.

Bokuto went back to the food, scooped up a plate of random snacks to bring to Akaashi and headed off.

He weaved his way through nicely dressed students and leaders, past banners and twinkly lights towards the help desk. 

When he got there his gaze found Akaashi with ease, however he instantly noticed something was wrong. The raven-haired man was holding an ice pack to his jaw, free hand gesturing wildly as he spoke to one of the university advisors. Every inch of Bokuto filled with worry. 

He placed the plate down on the help desk and went over to the two. He caught Akaashi saying, “Takeda, I swear I’m fine. This isn’t even the first time this week. Please don’t worry about me.” 

The advisor scowled but relaxed when he saw Bokuto, “Ah. Here we go! This FOC can cover for you for the rest of your shift.” 

“That’s not necessary!” Akaashi started to protest before turning to see who exactly the advisor meant. 

The tension in Akaashi’s shoulders lessened when he saw Bokuto, who found himself giving a small wave and saying, “I’m more than happy to help.” 

“Perfect. It’s settled!” Akaashi just shrugged as the advisor patted him on the back and walked away saying, “Take care of him.”

“I plan to,” Bokuto breathed with a sincerity that blazed in his chest.

He went up to Akaashi resting his hand on the one the shorter man was using to hold an ice pack against his face. 

“Are you okay? What happened?” his voice was tight with concern. 

Akaashi’s voice was soft, reassuring, “I’m fine Bo, I promise. Some drunk students got into a fight and I had to break it up. A stray punch got me in the jaw.” Akaashi grimaced, “It wouldn’t have been a problem but it happens to be the same spot I took a punch breaking up a fight earlier in the week.” 

Bokuto was searching those green eyes for any signs the man was downplaying his pain, any reason to worry.

“I really am fine,” Akaashi said, leaning forward and planting a kiss on Bokuto's cheek. “Even better now you are here.” 

Bokuto relaxed. He hated that someone had hurt Akaashi, he hated that he hadn’t been there to protect him, he hated that he couldn’t do much to fix either of those things, but he could be here now. 

“Apparently I need to bubble wrap you,” Bokuto said, pulling the other man into his chest. He relaxed, having Akaashi in his arms, his head against his shoulder. 

“Tonight’s sucked” mumbled Akaashi deflating against Bokuto. 

Bokuto's heart hurt hearing the other man sound defeated. He pressed a kiss against his hair and then all across his face. Kiss after kiss, after kiss, little pecks on his nose, jaws eyes, forehead. Akaashi eventually giggled, his face relaxing. 

“Stop it you, silly idiot,” he said, smiling and pushing Bokuto away. Bokuto's heart felt less tight seeing the other man smile. 

Akaashi took his hand and led him over to the chairs behind the help desk. “Come on, idiot. I’ll tell you about the insanity that’s been going on.”

They took their seats behind the desk and Akaashi filled Bokuto in. Apparently formal night had people acting crazy, Akaashi’s night had been filled with drunk assholes, but even before that set up had been a mess; hours of lost decorations, mixed up caterers and missing performers. 

“I just want it to be over so I can sleep for twelve years.” Akaashi was leaning his head on Bokuto's shoulder, their hands interlaced. 

“Hopefully the rest of the night will go smoother and you can have some fun. And then after that some sleep.”

“I might skip bowling tonight.” 

“What! Noooo! I mean, you can if you want but it would be nice to have you! It’ll be low key, you can just watch me be a dumb drunk idiot, and I’ll shower you in kisses.” Akaashi laughed.

‘Bowling’ was what the leaders called the massive after party that would happen after formal night. O-week has a zero tolerance for alcohol policy for both leaders and students alike, but at 12:01 tonight everyone's contracts were up and the leaders were free to go as wild as they wanted. 

The party was referred to as bowling during the week to try and keep the whole thing a secret from the adults and first year students. It didn’t fool anyone but it was a time honoured tradition and so leaders kept it up. As a FOC Bokuto had to go to his faculty’s party, and had asked Akaashi and Suga to come with him. 

“Nothing about bowling is low key. And since you’re a FOC you will be quite busy.” Bokuto couldn’t really fight that. The parties were generally wild and lasted until a local diner opened for breakfast the next morning. As a FOC he would also spend most of the night giving speeches and being lovingly hazed by the leaders, but still he wanted to spend as much of it with Akaashi as possible. 

“Let’s see how the night goes. If you're not feeling it I’ll just save my kisses for another time. But still we have all the rest of formal night to get through first.”

The rest of the help desk shift went by quickly. Bokuto running around to fix whatever needed to be done, Akaashi giving instructions when necessary and kisses anytime possible. 

Bokuto didn’t mind helping, as he’d been discovering all week, doing things that made Akaashi’s life easier made him disproportionately happy.

It also helped that now he was less worried about the other man, he could spend time ogling his beauty. Every time he came back from doing some task or another he’d be struck by the sight of Akaashi. Hinata was right, it should be illegal for the dark haired man to be dressed up like that. 

Akaashi was dressed simply in a white button up tucked into navy slacks, a pair of suspenders across his shoulders. He was wearing glasses tonight, Bokuto was baffled to find out the man normally wore contacts. His tie and jacket were discarded on the back of his chair, his sleeves rolled up showing off the creamy skin of his forearms. He was disheveled, a light bruise coming up on his sharp jaw, his hair which probably had been combed into submission at the beginning of the night now back to its normal messy self. 

Bokuto would have liked to see Akaashi before the night had wrinkled his shirt and mussed his hair, but he also had a distinct feeling his heart would have exploded at that, since Akaashi like this was driving him insane. 

He sat down beside the man, pressing a kiss to his jaw. 

“Suga will be here any second,” Akaashi said. 

“Have I told you, you are the most beautiful man in the whole world?” Bokuto asked. Akaashi blushed and chuckled, Bokuto's heart fluttered at the sound.

“About twenty times tonight, Bo.” 

“Hmmm that’s not nearly enough,” he responded, leaning his head on Akaashi’s. 

They stayed like that for a moment until Akaashi broke the comfortable silence, “You know you look amazing too.” 

Bokuto smiled. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” Akaashi breathed, sending Bokuto’s heart soaring, and then Suga arrived, and the two of them were free.

Well not quite free. They technically were still on duty until midnight but they could wander about, just making sure everything was going okay. 

They wandered around the building finding food, watching a juggler, and telling off some leaders who were causing trouble. Bokuto didn’t really care what they were doing, he just cared that his hands were intertwined with Akaashi’s, and that as the night went on Akaashi’s mood was improving. After they had food he really perked up.

“You should have told me you were hungry, silly Kasshi,” Bokuto teased as Akaashi shoved another mini quiche into his mouth. Akaashi scowled at him, mouth too full to respond. 

“Can we check out the dance floor next?” Bokuto asked, and Akaashi nodded mouth still full but no longer scowling. 

When they were done stuffing their cheeks, Bokuto pulled Akaashi to the dance floor. The room was dark, strobe lights flashed and the music blared. Bokuto loved it. He was a sucker for dancing and loved going out to bars to dance with his friends. 

What he was loving more though was that Akaashi didn’t seem to be tensing at the idea of dancing. Bokuto had thought quiet, proper Akaashi wouldn’t have been one for a busy dance floor, but he didn’t seem to be bothered as Bokuto pulled him through the throng of people. 

Once he reached his desired spot he stopped and turned to Akaashi, immediately throwing his hands up and starting to dance. 

Akaashi smiled, a big genuine smile and started dancing as well. A bit stiff, a bit like he wasn’t used to moving like this but Bokuto didn’t care.

The lights were changing colours, reflecting in Akaashi’s eyes, his hair was flopping around as he moved. Bokuto could not stop smiling. And then he wrapped an arm around Akaashi and pulled him close. Their hips moved together, their hearts thrummed in time to the music, and Bokuto felt alive. Akaashi’s hands were on him and everywhere their bodies touched burned. 

A song came on they both knew and suddenly they were screaming the lyrics at each other, laughing, bodies moving together, the electricity between them was palpable. Bokutos mind was fuzzy with Akaashi so close, Akaashi’s body on his, the sound of Akaashi laughter and singing. His brain was empty of all thoughts that didn’t involve Akaashi. 

Who knows how long they danced, how many songs played. The entire world was gone and all that was left was Akaashi, and Bokuto was more than happy for Akaashi to be his world.

They were breathless and sweaty and their hands were all over each other when Bokuto finally says, “Let’s get out of here,” and Akaashi didn't hesitate, he grabed Bokuto's hand and leads him off the dance floor away from the noise and the crowd. 

He headed for a stairwell, a few leaders are hanging out in it, probably on ‘make sure no one hooks up in the hallway duty’. Fuck that. 

“Scram.” Bokuto says, rather forcefully, and they do, eyes wide, covering giggles with their hands. 

The door bangs behind them and then Akaashi is grabbing his tie and pulling him towards him. The electricity from the dance floor is still between them, Bokuto’s ears buzz and head spins, and then their mouths meet and Bokuto's heart nearly jumps out of his chest. 

Akaashi is kissing him with a hunger and desire that Bokuto gladly leans into. Bokuto backs them up until Akaashi is pressed between him and the wall. The feel of Akaashi under him is intoxicating, he wants more, he wants to explore every inch of the other man. 

He pulled his mouth away generating a whine from Akaashi that turned to a moan as Bokuto kissed down his neck. 

“Fuck, Bo,” Akaashi sighs hands in his hair.

Bokuto, fighting all his instincts, decided it was time to chill the fuck out, because a FOC and a Fed being caught banging in a stairwell wasn’t a scandal he thought Akaashi would want to be a part of, and that’s where this was heading if Akaashi kept making such lovely noises. 

He used all his willpower to slow down the pace. His mouth now trailing lazy kisses across Akaashi’s jaw. He gradually made it back to Akaashi’s lips but now kissed him softly, letting some of the worry and care and concern from earlier bubble up to his lips. The other man kissed back a repeated “I’m here, I’m fine” against Bokuto’s lips. 

They pulled apart panting despite the slower pace, Hearts still hammering.

“We never got to do a slow dance,” Bokuto suddenly realized. 

Akaashi raised an eyebrow at him in question, “You want to slow dance?” 

“Yesssss.” 

“We’re in a stairwell.” 

Bokuto was pouting. He could feel his shoulders slumping and a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth. He had spent all last night daydreaming about getting to slow dance with Akaashi and he had ruined it by being too eager. He felt like such an over-enthusiastic idiot.

Akaashi pushed Bokuto off of him, only increasing Bokuto’s pout.

Clearly Akaashi was also upset with his idiocy, and he deserved it. He has ruined a special moment, how could he have been so stupid. 

He was so far lost in his own despair that he didn’t notice Akaashi pulling out his phone and picking out a song.

“Hey,” Akaashi said softly, making Bokuto look up. “Just cus we missed the official slow dance, doesn’t mean we can’t have our own,” Akaashi informed him, hitting play and placing his phone on the stairs.

The first few notes of a song Bokuto didn’t recognize drifted towards him.  
“May I have this dance?” Akaashi said, arm extended to Bokuto. All of Bokuto's despair drained away at the sight.  
“You may.” He walked over taking Akaashi in his arms as the lyrics began:

If you'll be my star  
I'll be your sky  
You can hide underneath me and come out at night  
When I turn jet black and you show off your light  
I live to let you shine  
I live to let you shine

The music was soft and slow, perfect for Bokuto to hold the dark-haired man against him. The two swayed slowly, Akaashi’s arms around Bokuto's neck, foreheads pressed together.

Bokuto felt weightless with Akaashi in his arms. He was mesmerized by the song, by Akaashi being so near, by how easily and without hesitation Akaashi had solved what was upsetting him.

“You’re perfect,” he mumbled, trying to keep his voice quiet so as to not disturb the moment.

“You’re silly,” the other man whispered back. 

Bokuto couldn’t argue with that, “But you like it.” 

Akaashi hummed, placing his head on Bokuto’s shoulder “I do.”

To anyone else it must have looked strange, the two men slow-dancing in a grey concrete stairwell, but as the song filled the room Bokuto could only think about how perfect it all was. How extra special it was that Akaashi had carved out this moment just for them, how Akaashi had picked this song for him. It was just the two of them, moving together, better than anything Bokuto could have imagined.

Bokuto’s heart soared when he noticed Akaashi every so quietly singing along. His voice was soft and warm, and every note went straight through his heart. This was truly the most perfect moment.

As the final chorus began Akaashi lifted his head from Bokuto’s shoulder to look him directly in the eyes. Sea green met gold and held. Neither of them looked away as Akaashi sang:

If you'll be my star  
I'll be your sky  
You can hide underneath me and come out at night  
When I turn jet black and you show off your light  
I live to let you shine  
I live to let you shine

As the last chords played, Bokuto placed a gentle kiss on Akaashi’s lips. 

“Thank you,” Bokuto muttered, holding Akaashi against him like a treasure.

Akaashi chuckled, “You’re welcome.” He paused, running his hands down Bokuto's arms, “Don’t let this go to your head but you in that suit does things to me.” It instantly went to his head. 

Bokuto smiled smugly, “Oh really?” 

“Yes, you’re stunning,” Akaashi mumbled, almost like it pained him to admit it. 

Bokuto kissed the grumbly man then said, “Kaashi likes suits. Noted.”

“I fear I have just given you information you will use against me.”

“Only in ways you will like.” Bokuto could feel Akaashi shiver at that. He took a step back realizing he still was holding Akaashi tight against him, only to be greeted by a pouty Akaashi, “Nooo come back.”

He beamed and did as told planting a kiss on the shorter man's nose. 

“Whiney Kaashi is unexpected and adorable.” Akaashi buried his head into Bokuto's shoulder and mumbled something.

“What was that, Kasshi?” Bokuto laughed. 

Akaashi’s hands were bunched up in his shirt, his hair was tickling his cheek.

Akaashi took his head out of his shoulder, “I just like having you close. It feels right.” Bokuto's heart went wild. 

“This does feel right,” he breathed, catching their mouths in another kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, someone who handles angst better then me needs to write a fic based on Boats and Birds. Is it not perfect for them?! ugh my heart!
> 
> Tomorrow: Drunk idiots in love!


	9. A Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo!
> 
> I kinda can't believe we are at the second last chapter! Thank you all for reading <3
> 
> TW: alcohol, the bois are gunna be drinking, and all I can say is please drink responsibly friends XD

Akaashi felt drunk. He wasn’t, but damn Bokuto did something to his brain. 

They had moved to sit in the stairwell, limbs tangled around each other. They mainly sat in silence enjoying just being together. Akaashi was a little worried Bokuto was broken, as he had never seen him this quiet, but anytime he stole a glance at the other man he looked absolutely content. 

Akaashi leaned his head on Bokuto’s shoulder tracing the lines of his large hands. They were good hands, well used and calloused from volleyball. He traced his fingers lightly over every finger and crease in his palms. 

“That kinda tickles.” Akaashi jumped a little, the sound of Bokuto's voice loud and startling in the silence.

“Oh sorry!” the grey haired man said, eyes wide with concern. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Akaashi smiled up at Bokuto, before lightly planting a kiss on his nose. “It’s all good. You don’t need to be so loud though, I’m right here,” Akaashi said, a smile on his face. 

“Sorry,” Bokuto whispered into his ear, sending a shiver down his spine. 

“So, how are you feeling about the party tonight?” Bokuto ventured, golden eyes searching Akaashi’s. 

“Oh. I’m probably not going to be much fun,” Akaashi mumbled looking down at his hands. The end of O-week parties are wild, and Akaashi was more of a low key, hang out guy. The idea of going to a rager with lots of people he doesn’t know makes his stomach clench a bit. 

“Pleaseeee! I’ll stay with you as much as I can, and Kuroo’s boyfriend is going to be there and I think you’ll like him. And all the leaders are very nice, and you can leave whenever you want. And I promise I’ll give you kisses as often as I can!” 

Akaashi made the mistake of looking up into Bokuto’s pleading face while he rambled. How could he say no to that face? 

“Sure, Bo,” he sighed, “I will hold you to those kisses though.” Bokuto's smile was breathtaking and Akaashi’s brain went a bit funny looking at it. 

“Yay!” Bokuto was practically wiggling like an excited puppy wagging their tail.

Akaashi wasn’t really upset at having to go. Sure, he would rather go sleep, but this was his last chance to get the full O-week experience, and also a chance to see Bokuto drunk.   
Akaashi had a feeling drunk Bokuto was going to be something.

As the clock struck midnight and the event officially ended, Bokuto and Akaashi left the stairwell to some raised eyebrows from other leaders. 

Akaashi couldn’t particularly blame them for the looks, both of the men were looking quite disheveled. Bokuto's hair, despite having been slicked back, was now going in every direction, probably due to Akaashi running his hands through it. Both of their shirts were wrinkled and a bit untucked, ties loosened, jackets in Bokuto's arms. It probably also didn’t help that both men had a trail of hickies along their necks and were holding hands. A slight ache in his jaw reminded Akaashi that rounding out the look was the light bruise from where he had been punched.

Eventually he and Bokuto split up, Akaashi telling Bokuto to go ahead as he needed to help with cleanup. Bokuto had protested at first, wanting to stay behind and help but Akaashi had insisted, a FOC shouldn’t be late to his department party! Bokuto had done so much for Akaashi already tonight, that he just wanted Bokuto to enjoy the rest of his night.

Suga and Takeda were at the help desk when he got there. Suga's eyes went wide, Takeda looked both dismayed and maybe a bit concerned. 

“Well, well, lover boy, looks like part two of your night went better?” Suga teased, wiggling his eyebrows. 

Takeda rubbed his temples, “I’m going to leave, before I hear anything I shouldn’t.” Then sighed, “I just came to thank you both for all your hard work this week. You guys handled this week like champions, and I’m extremely proud of you. I’ll see you in a few weeks to talk about turn over for next year, but for now get a lot of rest, and don’t do anything stupid tonight.” The men all shook hands and Takeda left. 

Suga immediately turned to Akaashi, “Please tell me you already did something stupid, and fucked Bokuto in a stairwell or something!” Akaashi smiled a little bit. Maybe the next hour of cleaning wouldn’t be too terrible, at least he would have Suga.

Two hours later Akaashi, Suga, and Suga's boyfriend Diachi, walked towards a small house in a student neighborhood. Suga and Akaashi were still in their formal attire, it was well past one AM when they had finished take down of the event, and neither of them could be bothered to change at this point.

They paused at the door. They could hear music blaring and a flurry of voices including some drunken singing. Akaashi knew from previous house parties that they should just let themselves in, however three Feds showing up to a Rec and Leisure leader party was a bit odd and Akaashi was a little nervous. Suga however, clearly was not, and threw the door open yelling, “Time to party bitches!” Diachi and Akaashi made eye contact, shrugged and followed Suga in.

Students filled every inch of the house, leaders in their team colours were chatting, dancing, sleeping in corners, and of course drinking. Akaashi dropped his jacket into the large pile and dropped his shoes among the masses hoping he’d be able to distinguish them later.

He pulled a beer from his backpack, opened it and started milling around in hopes of finding Bokuto. He headed towards the kitchen because that was the loudest area, and he suspected Bokuto would be in the centre of things.

Bokuto shockingly was not in the kitchen. Instead he found Kuroo and some other leaders playing a rather heated round of beer pong. Clearly there was a bet or something going on because people were watching intently, screaming and cheering as the game went on. 

Akaashi noticed a small man by Kuroo, shoulder length hair partially bleached falling in his face. He was in a Kuroo sized volleyball sweater despite being about half Kuroo’s size, and when Kuroo managed a nice rebound, he turned to the smaller man and yelled, “Did you see that Kitten! Look how cool I am!” before planting a kiss on the smaller man who, despite scowling, was looking at Kuroo with eyes full of love. This must be Kuroo’s boyfriend, Kenma.

Bokuto had told Akaashi that he would probably like Kenma. Looking at the small man, shying away from everything, practically hiding in his hoodie, Akaashi thought the guess was right. If nothing else they seemed to have in common being a quiet person dating a rather loud person.

He walked over, deciding to introduce himself. Kuroo caught sight of him and stopped, about to throw. 

“Akaashi! You came!” Kuroo turned to his boyfriend, “Kenma, this is the guy Bokuto has spent all week being distracted by. Can you show him around, or help him find Bo or something?”

Akaashi was blushing but Kenma nodded, standing on his tippy toes to plant a kiss on Kuroo’s cheek, Kuroo still had to bend over for the kiss to land it’s mark. It was a rather sweet sight.

Kuroo went back to his game and Kenma came over giving Akaashi a small smile, “Let’s head to the living room, there are less people”.

Akaashi followed the man weaving through the packed kitchen over to the much less crowded living room. The volume over there was much more bearable, the room filled with mainly sleeping leaders, and couples sitting close chatting softly.

Kenma leaned up against a wall. “Wanna shot?” he said, pulling a bottle of tequila out of the pocket of his hoodie. 

Akaashi let out a strangled laugh, “Where the fuck were you hiding that??” 

“The power of an oversized hoodie,” Kenma said, wiggling his hands around in the large pockets. 

“Magic,” Akaashi sighed, “and sure I’ll do a shot.”

Kenma pulled two plastic shot glasses out of his pocket and Akaashi laughed at how prepared this man was.

“I grabbed them as we were leaving the kitchen,” Kenma explained as he poured two shots then passed one to Akaashi. 

"To dating the silliest men on the planet!” Kenma said, raising his cup to Akaashi’s. 

“Can’t argue with that. Cheers!” Akaashi downed the shot, wincing as it burned brown his throat. Akaashi didn’t drink too often but he was a university student and was quite familiar with the burn of tequila. 

“So how did you and Kuroo meet?” Akaashi asked once the shots were done.

“Oh I’ve known the idiot since we were children. Grew up in the same neighborhood and have been friends since,” Kenma shrugged, “I've been dealing with him since we were like six.” 

“Ah you are a master of the trade. I may need tips.”

“Don’t make eye contact when they look like they are up to no good. You will end up in a hospital or with feathers glued to your head or some shit,” Kenma said this matter of fact, and Akaashi nodded seriously. 

He was already starting to learn the danger of Bokuto's mischievous looks and it may have been the beer he was drinking or the tequila shot he just did but he responded, “Good advice. I just can’t say no to Bokuto. He pouts and I break.” 

Kenma nodded and patted his shoulder, “Good luck, buddy.” Akaashi sighed in response.

Kenma and him fell into easy conversation. He quickly found out the other man was a gamer and streamed often. Akaashi himself didn’t game much but he enjoyed hearing the other man talk about the games he likes most. 

They were deep into a discussion about the weirdness of Assassin Creed lore, when the relative quiet of the room was broken.

“KASSHI!”

Kenma smiled, “Your idiot has appeared.”

Akaashi didn’t even have time to turn towards the source before Bokuto's arms were wrapping around him from behind, pulling the dark haired man into his chest.

“Your still all fancy and it’s not fairrrr,” Bokuto whined, nuzzling his head into Akaashi’s neck. 

“I didn’t have time to change, Bokuto. It wasn’t really a choice.” 

Kenma was clearly fighting back a laugh. 

“But you’re toooo pretttyyyyyy! How am I supposed to think about anything else with you here, all handsome,” Bokuto continued.

Akashi turned himself in Bokuto’s arms to face the other man. Wrapping his arms around Bokuto’s neck he said, “I’m sure you will manage.”

Now facing the man, Akaashi took in the sight. Bokuto’s cheeks were a little pink probably from alcohol, his hair was somehow standing up in its usual spikes again and he was indeed pouting at Akaashi.

“It seems like a good problem to have,” Kenma said, chuckling. “I’ll see you two around.” Kenma waved and headed back towards the kitchen and Kuroo.

“I missed you,” Bokuto said, golden eyes soft.

“Bo, I was gone for like two hours.” 

Bokuto pouted, “You didn’t miss me?” 

Akaashi sighed. This damn pouty face was going to break his heart, “I didn’t miss you.” Bokuto looked heart broken and Akaashi hurried to continue, “But I have been excited to see you ever since you left.”

Bokuto squinted at him, “Isn’t that just missing me?” Akaashi blinked, shit, Bokuto was right.

“Fuck. I guess I did miss you,” a small smile tugged into Akaashi’s face as Bokuto grinned. 

“Good,” he said, then pressed a sloppy kiss into Akaashi’s mouth. Bokuto tasted like beer and vodka, but his mouth on Akaashi’s sent his heart hammering. They pulled apart. 

“You’re drunk,” Bokuto murmured, leaning his forehead against Akaashi.

“Am not!”

It was nice to be in Bokuto's arms again, his warmth surrounding Akaashi. The rest of the party felt more manageable as they stood like this, talking about the trails Akaashi had gone through during take down. Bokuto took every opportunity to press kisses across Akaashi’s face as he talked.

“And that’s how the caterer almost set the back room on fire the second time,” Akaashi finished, just as a chant of, “LET'S GET FOCED UP!” began. 

Kuroo was pushed into the room by leaders, Kenma trailing behind him. Another grabbed Bokuto from where he was standing and pushed Kuroo and Bokuto into the middle of the living room. 

Kenma came and stood beside Akaashi saying, “I feel like we’re watching a cult.” and Akaashi had to agree as they watched the leaders basically dance around the two FOC before eventually a forty of beer was tapped on each of their hands and the screaming of, “LET’S GET FOCED UP!” grew to a crescendo.

Suga and Diachi appeared in time to witness Kuroo and Bokuto clink the four bottles together and take a long swig. The chanting shifted into a school cheer that Bokuto and Kuroo joined in on.   
“This is... something,” Akaashi said, a little stunned. Kenma just took a swig of the tequila bottle before passing it to Akaashi. “Definitely a cult,” he said, taking a swig before passing the bottle to Suga.

Eventually Bokuto and Kuroo were released from the throng of people. They were both in just their FOC vests and shorts now, and Akaashi felt a blush creep up his cheeks at the sight. Bokuto was too beautiful, biceps and abs on display. 

“You’re going to have to be my arms now, Kaashi,” Bokuto yelled, waving the forties duct taped to his hands in front of him. 

“Where the hell did your shirts go,” Suga laughed. Kenma had his hands on Kuroo’s bare chest, clearly enjoying the buff man shirtless. 

“Were you not paying attention?” Bokuto's eyes were a little crazy. 

“We got FOCed up!” Kuroo yelled, doing some weird high five, cheers hybrid with Bokuto. 

Kenma and Akaashi caught eachothers eyes. This was going to be a long night.

Bokuto was pulled in every direction. Everyone wanted to talk to him, tell him how great he had been this week, congratulate him on the volleyball match. Akaashi watched as he was pulled from person to person, and from room to room and smiled.

He didn’t mind that the rest of the world wanted a piece of Bokuto, especially since anytime Bokuto made eye contact with him he’d beam and wave and say something along the lines of, “That’s Akaashi, isn’t he the prettiest man in the whole world!” to whoever he was with. 

It was an interesting feeling for Akaashi, being so loudly praised and adored. If anyone else was talking so loudly about him he’d probably run away and hide. But Bokuto was drunk and shirtless and seemed like he really just wanted to tell everyone about how genuinely amazing he thought Akaashi was. It wasn’t a brag, it wasn’t pulling more than a glance towards Akaashi from people, and it surprisingly made him feel warm and tingly... or maybe that was the tequila.

Akaashi, Diachi, and Kenma had found a spot in a quiet-ish hallway and were chatting, watching their men run around like silly idiots. 

“AGAAAASSSHIIIIIII!” Akaashi looked up to see a slightly distressed Bokuto, standing in the middle of the room, hands still taped to the forties. 

“You better go get your man,” Kenma snickered.

Akaashi got up and walked over to Bokuto. He looked less worried now that Akaashi was heading his way but still had a concerned look on his face. 

“Yes, Bo?” Akaashi said, reaching out to push a few stray hairs from Bokuto's forehead. 

“Kaashi, I can’t eat chips!” Bokuto whined, looking down at his duct taped hands. “I just really want chips and I can’t have them.” 

Akaashi was doing everything not to laugh at this six foot, buff man pouting at him about being unable to eat chips.

“Well how about I feed them to you. I still have free hands,” Akaashi said, wiggling his fingers at Bokuto. 

Akaashi could see the gears going in Bokuto's brain for a second, then his face lit up, “YOU WOULD DO THAT!” 

Akaashi couldn’t fight the smile that came on his face, “Of course Bokuto.”

Akaashi found the bag of chips Bokuto wanted, then plunked the man down on the sofa and sat beside him. Bokuto pouted, Akaashi could not figure out why until Bokuto said, “Kaashiiii, come closerrrrr.” 

Akaashi swung his legs across Bokuto’s and leaned over to plant a kiss on the FOC’s cheek.

“You are drunk, and adorable,” Akaashi commented as Bokuto perked up. He just got nuzzles as a response.

They sat like that for a while, Akaashi feeding them both chips and occasionally grabbing one of Bokuto's hands to take a sip from the bottles taped to them. Bokuto spent most of the time talking about volleyball, telling Akaashi about his favourite plays and his hopes for making the Olympic team after graduating. Akaashi was enjoying the conversation, the other man's excitement made him happy and Akaashi would often give Bokuto little kisses just because he could.

“Hey. I’m really glad you're here,” Bokuto said, suddenly stopping mid conversation about cross shots.

Akaashi smiled, “I’m glad I’m here too, Bokuto.”

Once the forties were done through the combined effort of Akaashi and Bokuto, they managed to get the duct tape off and Bokuto ran off yelling, “OH MY GOD I'VE HAD TO PEE FOR HOURS!” Akaashi chuckled watching the dork run away.

Akaashi sat there, body heavy with alcohol. He wasn’t anywhere near as plastered as Bokuto, but the combination of a few drinks and the exhaustion of the week were definitely leaving him feeling sleepy and tipsy. It didn’t help that having Bokuto that close to him made his brain go fuzzy. 

He didn’t really understand it. Bokuto was loud, and silly, two things so antithetical to Akaashi that he was fairly certain he had lost his mind. Whatever had happened he was happier than he could comprehend, this big beautiful man made Akaashi feel alive in ways he hadn’t in years. So he was just going with it. He trusted Bokuto, trusted his heart telling him to jump all in to this. Maybe that’s why when Bokuto came back eyes blazing and yelled, “FOLLOW ME!” Akaashi found himself standing up and following no questions asked.

Bokuto pushed through the now struggling to stay awake crowd, pulled on shoes and ran out the front door. It was five, maybe six in the damn morning, but Akaashi put his shoes on as fast as he could, and dug his coat out from the pile before sprinting into the night air, after Bokuto.

“BO! WHERE ARE WE GOING?” Akaashi yelled after the other man. 

“I HAVE NO IDEA! WE’RE JUST RUNNING!”

“WHY?!” 

“CUS WE ARE YOUNG AND STUPID AND ALIVE!” 

Akaashi laughed. The streets were empty and the world was dark, illuminated only by street lights. 

They continued to run, Akaashi following the other man, trying to keep up. Bokuto suddenly made a sharp turn into a smaller path between two houses. Akaashi followed, a tad bit concerned about where exactly they were going to end up, when he realized the path led to a school yard.

Bokuto had stopped running and was standing in front of a set of portables, and Akaashi nearly crashed into him in the dark, his depth perception a little off. Bokuto caught him breathing a little heavy from his jog. 

Akaashi thanked the gods he worked out enough to not be embarrassingly out of breath right now. 

“Bo, why are we here?” Akaashi finally managed to ask. 

“I wanna climb it,” Bokuto said, eyes fixed on the portables in front of him.

“You are too drunk to do that. Also, just in general, no.” 

Bokuto scowled, “I’m gonna climb it,” he insisted, then planted a kiss on Akaashi’s nose and started to climb.

Akaashi watched tensely, but Bokuto was surprisingly steady considering how much he had drunk, and he used his muscle and height to brute force his way to the top.

When he reached the top he turned to Akaashi, yellow FOC vest flapping in the breeze, “You coming?” 

And how was he going to say no to this shirtless idiot standing before him in a halo of lamp light. He was also a little worried Bokuto might fall off and figured it was easier to keep him from falling then catch him. So, with a sigh and a prayer, Akaashi started to climb. 

He took a lot longer than Bokuto, he was more hesitant and worried he would fall. But eventually he made it, flopping onto the top of the portable beside Bokuto he sighed with relief.

“You made it, Kaashi!” Bokuto was smiling his signature blinding smile, sitting with his legs dangling off the edge. Akaashi army crawled over to Bokuto. 

“We’re so high up!” Bokuto exclaimed. 

“We’re only a story up, Bo,” Akaashi pointed out.

“No, we're at the top of the world!” 

Akaashi couldn’t really argue anything against that, “Yeah, yeah we are.”

He pushed himself up to sit beside Bokuto, legs dangling off the side as well. The view was pretty good, the school was on higher ground than the area around them, and from up on top of the portable they could see for quite some distance. There is a magic to the darkness and height. Akaashi felt a bit wild with the cool air against his face, the thrill of doing something he shouldn’t and the slight buzz of alcohol on his lips.

He stole a glance over at Bokuto to find he’s being watched intently.

“No one’s ever followed me before,” Bokuto’s voice is low and Akaashi’s heart swelled. He took Bokuto’s hand, he’s not quite sure what he means. He tilts his head in question, heart pounding. Bokuto’s looking at him with a softness that Akaashi can’t quite handle. 

“This is not the first time I’ve drunkly run through the streets at six AM and climbed a building. It is the first time anyone’s ever bothered to come with me.” Akaashi’s heart squeezed at those words, at the implications of Bokuto up here alone. He breaks eye contact with Bokuto to look back over the horizon. 

“Well I couldn’t let you get away,” Akaashi responds, just as soft. Bokuto squeezes his hand in response.

The sun is starting to rise and suddenly the darkness is cracked open with reds and pinks. The sight leaves Akaashi speechless. The sky looks like it’s on fire and Akaashi has never seen a more beautiful sight. 

Then he turns to Bokuto eyes wide at the sunrise, hair catching the light tinged a little pink from the reflection, tan skin soaking up the sun and he amends his earlier statement.

Bokuto watching a sunrise with the awe of a small child is the most beautiful thing in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my Friend April, for lovingly roasting me with all the dumb drunk stuff I've done when I asked for ideas for this chapter. Also for making sure I never do anything TOO dumb XD 
> 
> To any future or present o-week leaders remember: Bowling is a marathon, not a sprit. 
> 
> Tomorrow: The final chapter! A fist date <3


	10. A First Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo!
> 
> It's the end, I can't believe it! Thank you all so much for going on this ride with me. All of your support has been wonderful.
> 
> It was really hard to think of the perfect way to wrap this up, but I hope you find this as satisfying as I do.
> 
> Enjoy <3

It wasn’t until a week later that Akaashi and Bokuto had enough time to finally go on their first date. 

The weekend after O-week Akaashi did nothing but sleep and prep for the first week of classes. Then the first week of class hit and Akaashi was starting his fourth year thesis, and Bokuto was getting into the full swing of volleyball practice and both of them were still recovering from O-week. There just wasn't time for a date. 

They saw each other a few times though, stolen moments as they passed by each other on campus. 

Akaashi loved those moments, Bokuto would see him a bit away, wave at him with his whole body and run towards him, scooping him into his arms for a kiss. It made Akaashi feel like the most important person in the world, and he tried desperately to communicate how amazing Bokuto was through his kisses and small smiles.

They would eventually figure out where gaps in their schedules lined up and start spending stolen hours on campus, sometimes studying, sometimes talking, just killing time before their next classes. Bokuto would bring coffees with dumb puns, and Akaashi started to carry snacks Bokuto liked when he realized that the other man often sleeps in and skips breakfast.

But that was later, right now Akaashi was standing in front of the door to Bokuto’s house trying to calm an erratic heart.

He wasn’t sure why he was nervous, sure they hadn’t gone on any official dates, but it’s not like they hadn’t spent a lot of time together during O-week. But Akaashi was still worried it might be awkward or, maybe just not as perfect now that they were out of the weird world of O-week. He however also knew he was just overthinking, and tried to focus on the other thing that was making his heart go wild, he was really excited to see Bokuto for longer than a few frantic seconds on campus. He set his shoulders, took a deep breath and knocked.

The door was answered not by Bokuto, but by one of the other guys Akaashi had met at the volleyball game. The one with the bleach blonde hair, and undercut. 

“Huh you aren’t my delivery,” Miya said with a scowl. 

“I am not. I am looking for Bokuto.” 

“He’s in here somewhere,” Miya shrugged, letting Akaashi in.

The house was chaos. Shoes and jackets were strewn about the hallways and the clutter did not stop as he entered the living room. Textbooks, abandoned half empty mugs, and gym bags littered the space. Clearly Bokuto lived with some of the other volleyball guys.

Miya instantly disappeared sulking back into his room to wait for his food to arrive, leaving Akaashi alone standing by the door.

He decided to venture towards the noises in the kitchen. Here he found Kuroo and Kenma cooking something. Well, Kuroo was cooking, Kenma was playing his Switch and making sassy comments. Kuroo was pouting at Kenma’s comments and Kenma walked over to the dark haired man and gave him a soft kiss to make up for it. 

Akaashi realized he should probably not just stand there quietly like a creep.

He coughed. The two broke apart and looked at him. 

“Oh! Akaashi, when did you get here?” Kenma asked, getting over the surprise of his presence. 

“I just did. Miya thought I was his delivery and let me in.” they both nodded, like this was a common occurrence. “I’m supposed to be meeting Bokuto,” Akaashi added, realizing he should probably explain why he was in their home.

“Right! Bokuto was telling me today is your first official date!” Kuroo said a smug smile on his face. 

“He seems to not have shown up for said date,” Akaashi responded, a slight scowl on his face. 

“He’s probably just lost track of time, he’s been preparing all morning,” Kenma said with a small smile.

“Wouldn’t shut up about how excited he was,” Kuroo added with a wink, “His room is up those stairs and first door on the left.”

Akaashi headed in that direction with a thanks to Kuroo and Kenma.

Heading directly to someone’s room for a first date felt kind of weird, and Akaashi felt even weirder that Bokuto seemed to have forgotten their agreed upon time. Kenma and Kuroo had made him feel a bit better about it, but still his brain was jumping to worse case scenarios.

He made it to about halfway up the stairs and mentally through a scenario where Bokuto was hiding from him, when Bokuto himself came barreling down the stairs 

“AKAASHI’S HERE! OH MY GOD! SOMEONE LET AKAASHI IN! WHY DIDN'T ANYONE REMIND ME OF THE TIME!” he yelled pushing past Akaashi, running for the door.

Akaashi smiled, all his worry melting away. 

Bokuto threw the door open yelling “KASHI I'M SORRY!” 

Akaashi had to sit down on the stairs he was laughing so hard. Poor Bokuto just looked so frantic, hair sticking up eyes wide that Akaashi couldn’t help but laugh.

“Dude, he’s already in the house!” Kuroo yelled from the kitchen. 

Bokuto flung the door closed “WHAT!?” 

“He was headed up to your room last we saw him,” Kenma piped up. 

“WHAT?” Bokuto ran back towards where Akaashi was dying from laughter on the stairs.

Bokuto was at the bottom of the stairs when he finally saw Akaashi.

“AKAASHI I'M SO SORRRRYYYYY!” he wailed, coming to stand so his head was level with where Akaashi was sitting. 

Akaashi was trying to compose himself enough to get a sentence out. Bokuto was pouting at him, eyes filled with worry.

“Bo, I’m fine, it’s fine, you just look so silly running around.” 

“You’re laughing at me!” Bokuto said, eyes going wide. 

“Yes, Bokuto. I am,” Akaashi said, smile still on his face.

Bokuto got a glint in his eye, and then suddenly Akaashi was being thrown over his shoulder and carried up the rest of the stairs to Bokuto's room. 

“Bo! Don’t you dare drop me,” Akaashi said, trying to sound stern, but failing as a squeal escaped his mouth. 

“This method of transportation doesn’t actually work very well for this next part,” Bokuto admitted, putting Akaashi down gently in front of the now open door to his room.

“Oh,” Akaashi breathed at the sight. Bokuto had turned his entire room into a blanket fort. The space wasn’t massive but he had managed to drape blankets across his desk chair and from his bed to his dresser, haphazardly held up by Bokuto's belongings.

“I figured after O-week and the first week of classes you might just want to have a chill date, but just inviting you over to watch a movie felt kinda lame, so I decided to make you the ultimate comfort palace,” Bokuto explained, sounding a bit nervous. 

Akaashi smiled at him, “It’s perfect”.

After a bit of arranging, the two of them got settled in the fort. Leaning up against the side of Bokuto’s bed they had lots of room to stretch out, but they didn’t, instead snuggling close together on the pillows Bokuto had scattered around. 

The fort was lit up by Christmas lights that Bokuto had found and ran along the floor around the edge of the room. He had also created a pile of snacks, and set up his laptop so they could watch Netflix. The whole thing was rather cozy and magical, although a bit haphazard, Akaashi thought it reminded him quite a bit of the man who had created the space.

“So did I do good?” Bokuto questioned, nuzzling into Akaashi. 

“It’s perfect, Bo” Akaashi mumbled, face buried in Bokuto's chest. They had just finished watching some silly movie which neither of them really watched because they were too busy watching each other. Bokuto had pulled Akaashi into his lap and was holding him tight against him, Akaashi loved it, he felt safe and cherished.

“You know, I love it when you call me Bo. It’s pretty cute.” 

Akaashi pulled back so he could look up at Bokuto, “Noted,” he said, hiding a small smile, drinking in Bokuto’s expression of pure joy at that. 

Suddenly worry crossed Bokuto’s face “Wait, you know my first name isn’t Bokuto, right?”

Akaashi blinked, the white haired man looked so very serious and Akaashi couldn’t help but respond just as seriously, “Of course, Bokuto. You know Akaashi isn’t mine... right?” 

Several emotions flitted across Bokuto’s face, a few of which concerned Akaashi, who was now seriously worried the other man may not have realized that. 

Eventually eyebrows pinched together in worry Bokuto practically yelled, “Wait, what’s your first name!?” 

Akaashi scowled, “Bokuto, not so loud,” then sighed, “My full name is Akaashi, Keiji.”

Bokuto beamed, “Keiji! That’s a good name! I was worried you might have a bad name. My name is Kotaro but my sister called me Kou.” 

Akaashi covered a smile, “You were worried I would have a bad name?” 

“Well yeah! I can always give you my surname, but like whatever your first name is, it is! If it’s bad we’re stuck with it.” 

Akaashi went bright red at the insinuation of taking Bokuto’s name, “Bo, it’s our first date, you can’t be thinking of me taking your last name yet.”

Bokutos eyes went a bit wide, “I said that whole thing out loud didn’t I.” Akaashi nodded. “Whoops,” Bokuto muttered, but he didn’t look embarrassed at all. His eyes blazed with an intensity that captivated Akaashi.

“I plan on having you around as much as I can, for as long as you allow”. The statement was a promise, and that plus the care in Bokuto’s eyes sent Akaashi’s heart racing. 

“I don’t plan on going anywhere,” he responded, grabbing the front of Bokuto’s shirt and pulling him closer for a kiss.

Their mouths meet and Akaashi loses all sense of time, all sense of everything but kissing Bokuto Kotaro. There was no urgency to this kiss, but still Akaashi was painfully aware of every part of him in contact with Bokuto. He decided the correct amount of contact was one hundred percent contact and did everything he could to get as close to Bokuto as possible.

The kiss was long and sleepy and filled with care. Their lips moving together, their hands moving softly across each other. This kiss was a promise, a promise that there was no rush, that this was one of many, a promise that they wanted to be here. Akaashi drank in every second of it, memorizing the feel of Bokuto against him, running his hands lazily over the other man's strong biceps and waist. Enjoying the feel of Bokuto doing the same to him.

It was impossible to tell the passage of time from inside the blanket fort but after what felt like forever, though also not nearly long enough, the kiss ended and Akaashi rested his head on Bokuto's chest. Bokuto rested his head on top of his. 

“Shall we watch another movie or something?” Bokuto eventually suggested, hands making slow circles across Akaashi’s back. 

“Mmmmh, sure,” Akaashi mumbled. They adjusted to be sitting in a way that let them both be able to see the laptop. Akaashi regretfully sliding off Bokuto's lap so that we wouldn’t end up with a sore neck.

They put something random on, really more background noise for kisses and silly conversations. 

Bokuto was adorable, getting wrapped up in the show, transfixed by the characters, looking over at Akaashi when interesting things happened asking him questions and looking for his response. 

Akaashi should have been bothered, but it was fun talking about the show even if they had to keep rewinding because they missed something important. They also kept having to rewind because they got distracted by kissing. That was more than okay with Akaashi.

Eventually the cozy environment, and events of the last two weeks lead to the two falling asleep next to each other on the floor. Unlike the last time they had fallen asleep in each other's arms, this time there was no pressure to be awake, no need to be ready to respond at a moment's notice. They got to enjoy just being near each other, the feel of the others warmth, and the magic of the blanket fort, both falling into a peaceful sleep.

When Akaashi woke up he had a few moments of being absolutely disoriented. He was alone, surrounded by pillows, illuminated only by Christmas lights. 

He rolled over, and the sight of Bokuto curled up not too far away reminded him where exactly he was. He wasn’t really sure how he had ended up so far from Bokuto, just that now that he realized he was, he needed to fix it.

He wormed his way over to the white haired man, until he was only a few centimeters away.

Bokuto looked so peaceful in sleep, his face relaxed, breath coming slow and soft. Akaashi was afraid that if he got to close he might wake him and so he stayed back a bit just admiring the other man.

Eventually Akaashi couldn't help himself reached out and traced the lines of Bokuto's sleeping face. He had never seen Bokuto’s face this soft. It was always moving, beaming, pouting, eyebrows dancing along with words. But in sleep Bokuto's strong jaw lay still, his eyebrows relaxed, mouth soft. As light as a butterfly Akaashi ghosted his fingers across the face.

Eventually Bokuto stirred, his eyes didn’t open, he didn’t say anything, his arm just snaked out and wrapped around Akaashi pulling him into his chest. Akaashi didn’t resist, he just let the last bit of space between them disappear, enjoying the feel of being held close. There is a sort of magic to being pulled into someone while they sleep. It’s a subconscious movement, a desire to have the other person close even in sleep, a sign of trust. Akaashi thinks about this as he snuggles into Bokuto.

“This is a pretty strange first date” he whispers into Bokuto's chest 

“mmmmmh” is the only reply he gets 

“it’s amazing though. Exactly what I needed” his voice is barely above a whisper. 

Bokuto presses a kiss to his forehead in response and Akaashi eventually drifts back to sleep thinking about how luck he is to have met Bokuto, and how excited he is to wake up to him in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3 Ahhhhhh, soft happy bois, truly my favourite thing in the whole world. 
> 
> Just as an FYI I have a spicy (hehe) Bo/Kasshi fic in the works at the moment, and then after that hopefully a short fic that resolves the Kags/Hinata arch in this fic. 
> 
> Thank you all for making my first Fanfic posting experience so lovely, and I hope to see you (read you?) around!


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